99th STERILIZATION CLINIC IN VOLCAN

(Para la version en espanol,
haga clic aqui)

 October 23, 2016

34 animals were spayed/neutered by Dr. Andres Tello,
our wonderful veterinarian. We had a very long day anyway
because Dr. Tello performed several other examinations and
procedures, one of which included a very complicated
 and time-consuming surgery to remove cancerous mammary
 tumors from a female dog. That particular surgery
alone took more than an hour.


At this October 23, 2016 clinic Dr. Tello sterilized  23 dogs and 11 cats. Of the dogs, 19 were female and 4 were male. Of the cats, 10 were female and 1 was male. He also examined and treated Raquel's monkey.


Two dogs were pregnant. One was very late term but the owners wanted Dr. Tello to go ahead and abort. They were very upset with themselves that they had not brought their dog to be spayed in September. She would have still been pregnant then, but in September it would have been a very early pregnancy.From this experience, they will definitely tell their friends and neighbors about the necessity of early sterilization. It is best to spay/neuter before six months of age.

We had a very long day due to "other procedures" in addition to sterilizations. People from Concepcion brought their big (brava) female dog. About a year ago the dog was spayed at our clinic and now she had developed huge cancerous mammary tumors. (This likely would not have happened if she had been spayed while she was young.) The surgery was extensive and took more than an hour. The dog will be fine now. The pictures will probably disturb some people, so I am not including them in the Flickr album (link follows below). But if you want to see the pictures of that extensive surgery, click HERE

In that page, I also include a picture of a large tumor being removed from the side of a dog--not a venereal tumor. We don't know the cause of the tumor, but the owner said it had rapidly increased in size over the period of about three weeks. The dog had already been spayed at a previous clinic.


I've mentioned before about the two neighborhood dogs, one male, one female, that wandered nearby about four months ago and we sterilized them. They are not skinny, obviously have owners and are well taken care of--except they were not sterilized. Now they are. They love us, consider themselves our mascots, and come to visit during every clinic. In fact, it's difficult even to keep them OUTSIDE of the building during a clinic. On my walks, my route takes me by the clinic building and the "mascots" always come running to greet me.

More good news. In the Flickr album (link below), I also include a picture of a rescue I'm calling "Freddie."  He is a white male dog. He had recently come to the building with the "mascots" during the clinic prep day, which was the recycling day on Friday before the clinic. He was afraid, but Marguerite gave him a dog treat and we were able to pet him.  We discovered a huge bloody wound around half of his neck. He had evidently been tied with a wire and had worked at it for weeks trying to get loose, thus causing major wounds to his neck.

Well, well...he came running to the clinic bright and early Sunday morning to greet us. Don Binder and I were the only ones there at the time. (We were very happy that his "owner" had not tied him up again.) We lured him inside with a dog biscuit and then closed the door. (He was then too frightened even to eat the biscuit.) He is very gentle, not brava, only afraid. We anesthetized "Freddie" just before Dr. Tello arrived. Dr. Tello neutered him and treated the neck wound. Then Jose took Freddie to my house where we will continue to treat the neck wound. Freddie will stay with me until he is fully recovered. 

Next week we will bathe Freddie and then I will need to find a permanent or foster home for him. I simply CANNOT take any more dogs! I'm already overloaded with 18 dogs! I will not take Freddie and release him near the clinic because no doubt his supposed "owner" would treat him the same way. Freddie deserves a good life! Please contact me if you'd like to meet Freddie and consider fostering or adopting him.


There is still another white male dog, very friendly, who is buddies with our "mascots." I had hoped he would come to the clinic so we could neuter him as well. But he didn't appear until Monday, the day after the clinic, when Jose and I went to clean and bring the blankets home to wash. Oh, well....we hope we will see him at the November clinic!


Our next clinic will be on November 20, 2016. Please call for an appointment right away because the clinics fill up rapidly. And remember, our November clinic will be the final one for 2016.

We had 10 no-shows at this October clinic. In most cases not showing up without calling to cancel is inexcusable because Jose calls EVERYONE two or three days before each clinic to confirm their appointments.


You may click the PayPal "Donate" button below to help the animals. It is to my personal PayPal account at muffiemae@gmail.com and your contribution will not be US tax deductible. Please specify your payment is for "friends or family" so that PayPal will not charge a fee and every penny will go for the animals. If you don't have a PayPal account, you can use a credit card.   

Except for our wonderful veterinarian, neither I nor anyone else connected with the clinics receives any pay. I rent the building where we hold the clinics, and I buy all the anesthesia, medications, instruments, supplies, and equipment--and provide transportation for those who need it. I have no offices, no salaries, no paid advertising. Every penny goes for the animals. This is a project from my heart, and I pay the deficits from my own pocket. 

Thank you in advance for future financial help, and thanks to everyone who has donated in the past.


Volunteers:

Francia Pinedo handled registration. Francia did a great job, as always!
Don Binder weighed animals and gave the anesthesia injections. He, Amanda Dettloff,  and Elcy Morales  gave the pre-op injections of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory. They also put mineral oil in the eyes of the animals so they would not dry out, and performed whatever other duties were needed. 
John Gould helped carry animals to and from surgery and did whatever else was necessary.
Jose Espinosa, my permanent employee, also drives my car to provide transportation for animals when necessary. Then Jose and I go to the clinic building the following week to clean, bring home blankets to wash, and organize for the next one. 
Stephanie and Jenni Rodriguez assisted Dr. Tello and gave post-op injections of B-12 and antiparasite. (Welcome back, Jenni! She has been absent for several months because she was pregnant. Her baby is now five months old.) They dressed the incisions, applied flea and tick treatment, tattooed the ears of female dogs, and generally checked the well being of the animals. 
Alex Rios helped with the above tasks, plus he cleaned and sterilized the instruments. 

As always, we had a great team of volunteers and everything ran very smoothly! 


We had a lot of delicious food for the doctor and the volunteers! Thanks to everyone who contributed: The main dish and dessert from Don Binder (everyone loved his chili), Azel Ames provided drinks, and Lynn Gohman brought a delicious bowl of fruit.

Please forgive me if I forgot to thank anyone who donated or contributed.


Income and expenses: 96.80 from Farrells

$  785.00*

contributions by guardians/owners

      25.00

cash donation by Al Jan (Volcan)

    196.80  cash donation by Pat & Susan Farrell (US--PayPal)
        5.00  cash donation by Janice Whittle (Paso Ancho)
$1,011.80  Total Cash Contributions

*Note: The $785 contributions by guardians/owners were for spaying and neutering only. Payments for other procedures were paid to Dr. Tello separately. Neither those payments nor the charges for other services are  included in the income and expenses.


At this October 23, 2016 clinic Dr. Tello sterilized 23 dogs and 11 cats.  With my average costs of $25 per dog and $15 per cat, expenses were $740 plus $100 for building rent for a total of $840. Income this month was $1,011.80 leaving an excess of $171.80. Therefore, my current out-of-pocket expenses are $886.49 

My heartfelt thanks for the generous donations of those who have contributed for this clinic, who have contributed in the past, and who will contribute in the future! We need and appreciate your help! Love and thanks to everyone!


Be sure to see all the photos taken during the clinic! See my Flickr web album HERE

Click on the first picture to see the captions and advance through all the pictures.


Here in Volcan, our small group has been responsible for sterilizing 3,662 dogs and cats to date. (And this number does not include the extraordinary surgeries that Dr. Tello has performed at our clinics...removal of tumors, amputations, etc., nor the clinic we performed in Davila in which 35 dogs were sterilized.) 

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--but thankfully, we see a lot fewer venereal tumors than we did in the past!.

Remember: In 7 years a female cat and her off springs can be the source of 420,000 kittens.  In 6 years a female dog and her off springs can be the source of 67,000 puppies. Unless your dog/cat is totally confined and unable to continue the population increase (AND the spread of venereal disease), please do the humane thing of having them sterilized!

For the health and safety of your dog/cat, however, have the sterilization performed by a competent vet who is experienced in early sterilization (eight weeks of age and up) and small-incision surgeries, and one who closes with stainless steel sutures....like Dr. Tello, who we are so fortunate to have operate at our clinics. (I do not trust care of my dogs or injured dogs that I find in the street to ANYONE except Dr. Tello.)

Thanks to everyone who participated in our clinics today, and to those who had their pets sterilized. Always remember that TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Dorothy Atwater -  6517-8752 or muffiemae@gmail.com
skype:  muffiemae

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