October 11, 2009 - 27 animals sterilized 
today by Dr. Tello, our wonderful veterinarian,
 plus four other surgeries!

This was our final clinic for 2009. Dr. Tello sterilized 21 dogs and 6 cats. Of the 21 dogs, 17 were female and 4 were male. Of the 6 cats, 4 were female and 2 were male. He also removed a large venereal tumor from a female dog, and from another dog he removed two large tumors which were under the shoulder of a front leg. The first tumor was the size of a large grapefruit; then he found a second one behind it that was about 1/3 the size of the first one. He also performed minor surgeries on two other dogs.

We didn't finish until after 6:00 p.m. It was a very long day with so many females being sterilized plus the two other lengthy surgeries. 

Sometimes I become discouraged at the lack of consideration that many Panamanians have for us who work very hard at the clinics, and the apparent lack of caring for their pets.... for many, anything else that comes up is more important than getting their pets to the clinic. For example, more than 50% of the 33 people who had confirmed appointments didn't show up and didn't bother to call to cancel their appointments. I don't understand how they justify passing up such an excellent opportunity to have their pets sterilized: an excellent veterinarian and a very cheap cost. I suppose they think, oh well, we can go to another one. Sometimes I am tempted to refuse second appointments to those who don't bother to cancel beforehand; but then I discard that idea when I remember that this program is to help end the suffering of the animals.

Fortunately we had enough people who came without prior appointments to make up the difference. I'm glad we were able to help so many animals at this last clinic for 2009. The next clinic will be January 17, 2010.

Please inform your friends and neighbors about our clinics and the importance of sterilizing their pets. Besides preventing the eventually fatal venereal tumors in both male and female dogs, sterilization also prevents the birth of many puppies and kittens that would end up homeless and suffering miserable lives. Remember, in 7 years a female cat and her unsterilized offsprings can be responsible for the birth  of 420,000 cats; in 6 years, a female dog and her unsterilized offsprings can be responsible for the birth of 67,000 dogs. Please help to end the overpopulation!

MANY thanks to our wonderful volunteers and contributors. Without their help and dedication, this important work simply could not be done. 

Argelis Gomez did a wonderful job as registrar. 
Beth Park and Diwa Kadiroff administered the anesthesia and other pre-op injections. (Diwa is a new volunteer. She is originally from Russia, has lived in New York and Puerto Rico, and is now a new resident in Volcan.)
Richard Kongable performed pre-op shaving and prepping, and provided transportation to several people and their pets. 
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 and often helps with pre-op shaving and prepping. Jose and I go to the clinic site on Mondays following the Sunday clinics to clean and organize for the next one.
Wally Ewen performed post-op care: cleaned the surgical site, tattooed the ears of female dogs to indicate they have been sterilized, gave injections of vitamin B-12 and antiparasite.
Francia Pinedo, who usually assists Dr. Tello, could not be here today. But thanks very much to her for helping schedule animals prior to the clinic, as she always does. (She also does the translation for the Spanish version of this web site.) 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 
Eymi Pitti, who cleaned and sterilized the surgical instruments and monitored the animals while they recovered from the anesthesia.

Thanks to Nancy Young for providing sandwiches and Richard Kongable for the soft drinks.  I provided a big crockpot of vegetable beef soup and cookies.

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

Income and expenses: 

At this October 11, 2009 clinic, we sterilized 21 dogs and 6 cats, plus the four other surgeries performed by Dr. Tello. (I pay him a little extra for the lengthy time-consuming surgeries.) At my average cost of $20 per dog and $10 per cat, expenses were $540, plus $100 for building rent, for a total expense of $640. With contributions of $621.00, the deficit was  $19.00. Therefore, since October of 2006 to date, my accumulated deficit is $3,519.75.  (The clinics began in March of 2006 but it didn't occur to me to keep financial records until October.)

At this last clinic the cash flow was helped by two gringos, one who contributed $50 each for two dogs and another who contributed $60 for one dog. Thank you!

Please contribute! I very much appreciate your contributions, which are welcome and needed! (US citizens: please contact me about how to make IRS tax-deductible contributions.)

Following are some pictures taken during the October 11, 2009 clinic. 

Diwa Kadiroff	Wally Ewen in post-op	Dog in recovery. The tiny white spot on her tummy is medicine over the tiny incision that Dr. Tello makes.
Argelis Gomez (center) works in registration.	People waiting their turn.	Girl with her dog.
Dr. Tello and Eymi Pitti	Young man with his puppy in recovery.	Dr.Tello
Woman with her dog that's just waking up.	Very sweet hound dog.	A real cutie!
TJ Stephens and Pepper.	Richard Kongable shaving. Beth Park and Diwa Kadiroff are in the background.	Feena and her babies.
Young man and his dog.	Woman and her dog.	Another woman with her cutie!
This dog was giving us a howl.	I took a picture after Dr. Tello removed the two large tumors from behind the dog's shoulder. It's gory so I didn't put it on this main page. If you want to see the picture, click HERE.	Click HERE to see a picture of the same dog after surgery. Not a very big scar for such an intrusive operation.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our clinics in 2009, and to those who had their pets sterilized. We'll have a short rest and begin anew in 2010!

Here in Volcan, our small group has been responsible for sterilizing 859 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 988 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, 6780-2565 or viajar2566@yahoo.com

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