July 13, 2008 -27 animals sterilized
 on this day by Dr. Tello, our wonderful veterinarian!  

Today Dr. Tello sterilized 24 dogs and 3 cats. The surgeries of the female dogs take the longest and of the 24 dogs today, 22 were female. One was pregnant, and he had to remove an eye from another one in addition to sterilizing her. Amazingly, there were no venereal tumors this day.

We locked the doors at around 5:00 p.m. This was the perfect number of animals for one day, especially with so many female dogs. We start early, and to go beyond 5:00 p.m. in one day really exhausts everyone.

MANY thanks to our wonderful volunteers and contributors:

Cindy Reichert and Betsy Boeve, who served as registrars and helped give injections. They also provide transportation to people and their animals who need it.
Yina Ortiz, who administered the anesthesia. 
Norma Miranda, who gave the post-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.
Wally Ewen, who did shaving and pre-op cleaning of the animals.
Fariza Castillo, who performed pre-op treatment and injections.
Argelis Gomez (my neighbor), who worked in the recovery area…checking and recording the temperatures and vital signs of the animals as they recovered from the anesthesia;
Yimel Caballero and Eymi Pitti Arcia, high school students, who cleaned and sterilized the surgical instruments.
Francia Pinedo, who assisted Dr. Tello and helped wherever necessary, including translation. Francia is a good friend and I know her to be an excellent - and honest - real estate agent in Volcan. Her web page is http://www.volcan.paradisepanama.net 

Thanks to Gene and Janet Robinson for contributing sandwiches; to Sharon Borgman for contributing a big pot of wonderful vegetable soup; Linda Weldon for contributing her delicious pastries filled with cream cheese and guayaba (and for taking pictures during the clinic); and to Jennifer Taylor for contributing the soft drinks.

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

Income and financial donations:

At this July 2008 clinic, we sterilized 24 dogs and 3 cats. At an average cost of $20 per dog and $10 per cat, expenses totaled $510...plus $20 for a phone card for Yina to schedule people and $100 for building rent, for a total of $630. With total contributions of $524, this left a deficit of $106.00. Thanks very much to everyone - the deficits are getting to be more manageable. I would still like to reduce the deficits, though, and reduce the accumulated deficit of $3,721.25 since October of 2006 to date.

Following are a few pictures taken during the July 13, 2008 clinic:

These two little doggies are up next.	Fariza Castillo	Dr. Tello takes a break.
Cindy Reichert and Linda Weldon.	Wally Ewen	Maritza Wallace and her dog.
Juan Esquivel and his dog.	Argelis Gomez (right) works in recovery.	Francia Pinedo and Dr. Tello
Francia's nephew Kevin with their puppy.	Mary Binder with her 75-lb "Duchess"	Me (Dottie), left, and Betsy Boeve.
		Argelis Gomez

This little lady doesn't really have a home. She hangs out around the high school and the students feed her. She's already had about eight litters of puppies. Jose brought her from the school and we sterilized her. I couldn't bear to take her back to the school at the end of the clinic day because it was cold and raining. So I brought her home with me, where she spent the night in my kennel. Jose and I took her to the school Monday morning, and the students were glad to see her.

Here in Volcan, our small group has been responsible for sterilizing 499 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 628 dogs and cats! There are many more to go, but we are making progress!  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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