May 11, 2008 -39 animals sterilized
 on this day by Dr. Tello, our wonderful veterinarian!  

Dr. Tello sterilized 27 dogs and 12 cats. Nineteen of the dogs were female. Surgeries for female dogs take the longest. He also removed 2 venereal tumors (one of which was very large) and repaired the bleeding and torn vagina of a female dog who had recently given birth to very large puppies. 

We finished the day and locked the doors of the clinic at 6:30 p.m.  I have never seen Dr. Tello so tired, and the day was too long for all of us. 

Jose, Fariza and I returned to the clinic on Monday, the following day, to take the refuse to the dump, to clean everything, and to begin to organize for the next clinic. Monday and Tuesday Jose and I laundered all of the blankets used for the recovery area. Many have blood and/or vomit on them after each clinic. 

Now that I have rented the building as a permanent location so that we can have a clinic each month with only one (very good!) doctor, things flow quite smoothly. 

The narrative regarding this 10th clinic will be relatively short. If people want to read in more detail about how we got to this point, please click on the Clinics link.

Again, thanks to our caring volunteers who contribute funds, their time, food, and/all of the above. This work could not be done without you wonderful people! After listing the volunteers and contributions below, I will post pictures taken during the clinic. Some of the pictures may be disturbing to some people. (Actually, there are fewer potentially "disturbing" pictures from this clinic than from any of our past clinics. That shows that we are making progress!) But for those who object to seeing what is real life for many of the animals here in Panama, please do not look at the pictures. They appear at the very end of this page, so you can skip them if you wish.

MANY thanks to our wonderful volunteers and contributors:

Cindy Reichert and Betsy Boeve, who served as registrars and also took turns bringing animals to the clinic and taking them home after surgery; 
Yina Ortiz and Fariza Castillo, who administer the anesthesia and give the pre-op injections of antibiotics and pain/inflammation;
Jose Espinosa. He is my permanent employee and I donate his time and work to the clinics. He helps weigh and tag the animals and give the anesthesia; Jose also uses my car to bring animals to the clinic when necessary and to take them home after surgery.
Bob Wald, who did shaving and pre-op cleaning of the animals;
Norma Miranda, Lynn Longbons, and Brenda Paulson who performed post-op treatment and injections  - such as anti-parasite, vitamin B-12, and Rabies vaccinations plus treatment for fleas and ticks; and tattooed the ears of the female dogs to indicate they have been sterilized. 
Sharon Borgman, who trained my neighbor, Argelis Gomez, for work in the recovery area…checking and recording the temperatures and vital signs of the animals as they recover from the anesthesia;
Gabriel Castillo, who cleaned the surgical instruments and sterilized them in the autoclave; 
Tom Rennen helped carry the animals from one station to another. He is bi-lingual and he was also a big help in translating when needed. (Tom's web site is http://panamawest.com )
Francia Pinedo (http://www.volcan.paradisepanama.net), who assisted Dr. Tello and helped wherever necessary, including translation.

Thanks to Marianne Brown for contributing sandwiches; to Betsy Boeve and Cindy Reichert for contributing sandwiches; and to (anonymous), who contributed the nine 2-liter bottles of soft drinks. Also thanks to Lynn Longbons who brought a vegetable platter.  I contributed a big bowl of hummus and some toasted pita bread. Everyone liked the hummus except Gabriel – who went “yuck!” We teased him, and kept asking him if he wanted more hummus.

Please forgive me if I have neglected to mention any volunteers or contributors!

Income and financial donations:

In the May 2008 clinic, we sterilized 27 dogs and 12 cats. At an average cost of $20 per dog and $10 per cat, expenses totaled $660. I also gave Fariza Castillo $20 for phone cards to schedule appointments, paid $17.85 for the 10x20 tarp, and paid $100 for the building rent, for a total of $797.85. Total contributions were $756.00, which left a deficit of $41.85.

More regarding expenses:  Thankfully, since I’ve rented the building so we can have the clinics once a month with only Dr. Tello, I don’t have the transportation expense of bringing vets from Panama City; plus Dr. Tello works for a pittance compared to the skill and expertise he offers to us.

We began these clinics in March of 2006. As we became more organized, in October of 2006 (with our fourth clinic) I began to keep account of expenses versus income. (Before that, I just paid whatever was necessary and didn’t keep an account.)  As I prepared the web page for this 10th clinic, I was curious to figure the amount of the deficit so far. Since October of 2006 to date, I have a deficit of $3,435.25.  But the deficits for each clinic are getting smaller. The clinics are mainly for the dogs and cats of low-income Panamanians. But now many of the Panamanians are beginning to contribute $20 for dogs, even street dogs that they kindly bring to be sterilized.

Our clinics are now so popular and well known that by the end of the day at each clinic, we already have 40+ animals signed up for the next one.

Following are a few pictures taken during the May 11, 2008 clinic:

The big tarp Jose installed to keep the porch dry if we have a blowing rain.	The mama dog has had anesthesia. The puppy helping himself to milk is not hers, but one that Dr. Tello brought for Yina.	Cindy Reichert, our excellent registrar.
People waiting their turn.	A girl "baby sits" Yina's new puppy.	Dr. Tello sterilizes two kittens at once.
Brenda Paulson preparing an injection in post-op.	Argelis Gomez works in the recovery area. (She is my neighbor.)	Gabriel Castillo cleaned the instruments and sterilized them in the autoclave.
Dr. Tello takes a moment to work on his tired neck and shoulders with my Backnobber.	Betsy Boeve works in registration. (She and her sister Cindy took turns with registration and bringing some animals to the clinic and taking them home after surgery.)	Here Dr. Tello is just beginning to remove a huge venereal tumor.
Norma Miranda and Yina Ortiz assist Dr. Tello in removing the huge venereal tumor, while Cindy Reichert observes.	Francia Pinedo holds a kitten still under anesthesia. Yina's puppy will be sterilized at the July clinic - but he takes this opportunity to have a nap.	My heartfelt thanks to all of our wonderful volunteers and everyone who participates in the sterilization process for these dogs and cats. We simply could not provide this vital service without you!  We love you all - and so do these fortunate animals! Together we are making a difference!

Here in Volcan, our small group has been responsible for sterilizing 451 animals to date. Added to the 129 animals that Spay/Panama (from Panama City) sterilized in in Volcan in February of 2005, we have sterilized 580 dogs and cats! There are many more to go, but we are making progress! Now that we are able to hold the clinics once every month, we will progress even faster. Our goal is to sterilize at least 75% of the dogs and cats in the Volcan area, and thus almost completely solve the problem of homeless dogs and cats, and the terrible venereal disease suffered by so many dogs.

Dorothy Atwater - 771-5883 or 6780-2565 or viajar2566@yahoo.com

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