| |  |  | | | On Sunday October 29, Amigos de Animales spayed or neutered 257 animals, 111 dogs and 146 cats. It was a long day, but we had 7 wonderful vets and many great volunteers working and we wrapped up around 5 pm. Back in our old location, we could not have done that many animals in one day - our record there was about 157 and we would have been working well into the night. On many nights we did not close up until after 8 pm.
257 is still not our record - in January of 2014 it was 258 at the school at Los Naranjos. That was a day! But this year was still one for the records, having sterilized 1918 animals in 2017 and bringing our total to 13,196 since 2005.
It is hard to believe that we have reached the end of another clinic year, the close of the third in our new facility. We could not have done it without the generous donations by our old friends Jerry and Carole Loveless and Rob and Betty Eyehorn, who enabled us to make the bold move into property ownership and construction of the building that is the Ruby McKenzie Clinic.
There are so many people to thank and recognize, starting of course with our volunteers, without whom none of this would be possible. We thank you, we love you, and we hope to see you all again next year. Thank you for showing up, setting up, staying late, bringing food, and being there to help us with our mission.
Thank you also to the vets, the best ever, starting with Dra. Chely, profiled her. Wwe could not do it without her. Dr. Tello told us last year he was retiring, but he still managed to work at many of our clinics this year. We were happy to see Dr. Cesar back with us - he had missed several clinics due to illness. And to all the vets who work tirelessly every month to ensure the health and livability of our community: Dr. Virgilio, Dr. Manuel, Dr. Ricardo, Dra. Amanda, Dr. Aaron – thank you for your hard work and dedication.
We are so pleased to welcome Dr. Linda Faris to Amigos de Animales. She has been a calm and steady presence in the Recovery area all year, and we are so grateful to her. She has taught us so much about animal care and how to safely help the animals entrusted to us.
Many thanks to Heidi and Mike at Mike's Global Grill. Every month they have donated pizzas for the vets and it is so appreciated.
Thanks as well to Rodrigo Marciaq who brings us fresh lettuce from his greenhouses for a healthy addition to our lunches.
Thanks to Magaly Bustamante, our appointment secretary, who set up our reservations and deals calmly with all the chaos on Sunday mornings.
Thank you to our collectors, who have made such a difference in the lives of animals of our community and the surrounding areas.
Thank you all for a very good year! The next clinic will be Sunday, January 28
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| | | | | Oct 2017 | | | Income | | | | | | | Clinic Income | | 2,860.00 | | | | Donations | | | 249.90 | | | | Interest Income | | 70.40 | | | | Membership | | 115.00 | | | Total Income | | | 3,295.69 | | | | | | | | | | Expense | | | | | | | Building Repairs/Maint | 181.83 | | | | Clinic Supplies | | 235.74 | | | | Laundry | | | 107.50 | | | | Food/Kitchen Supplies | 18.64 | | | | Medical | | | 993.90 | | | | Phone Card / Internet | | | 25.00 | | | | Salary - Clinic Coord. | | 260.00 | | | | Utilities | 41.10 | | | | Tax | 17.50 | | | | Vet Services | 2608.00 | | | | Total Expense | | | 4994.86 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Net Income (Loss) | | | (1699.17) | | |  | Meet Dra. Chely
By Ruby McKenzie, Founder | | We want to recognize and applaud the efforts of our local veterinarian, Dra. Tomasa Itzel Castillo M., or Dra. Chely as we all call her. She received her veterinary degree "Medico Veterinario" in Brazil from the Universidad Federal de Santa Maria in the late 1990's and her post graduate degree in 2001. Panama had not fully developed a program for vets, so those interested had to go to other countries for their degrees. Her post graduate (Master's) degree is in "epidemiologic" which is the advanced study of diseases, such as rabies in cows or a fungal outbreak in a defined population, affecting large groups of animals. After all, she lived in Chiriqui where there were a lot of cows!
She opened her "office" for business in 2001. Actually it was just inside her living room in a sectioned off area with an exam table. Finally in 2004, she was able to build the office beside her house which we now visit. Dra. Chely began working with Amigos de los Animales before we were officially formed. She was at the first sterilization clinic in 2005, when 21 animals were sterilized, and since then has only missed one clinic through 2017. She is basically a very shy and humble person. She does not like to operate at the clinics (no public display for her!) but she surely knows how to mix our anesthesia cocktail and to inject animals with it at our clinics. She has been a mainstay for all of us. She did not start out as a "small" animal vet, but she certainly became one! She responded to our needs beyond all expectations!
Through all of this, she is a single mother of one. Jonny, her son, was just chosen to do his post graduate work in Spain on a full-ride scholarship - only one of two in all of Chiriqui Province to be selected (and only 15 in all of Panama). Dra. Chely, is a compassionate, talented vet, a very good and tireless friend of Animales and a very proud, supportive Mom. Thank you, Dra. Chely Castillo for all that you do for all of us!
Don't delay, make your reservations for the January clinic! | | | | | | | As you can see from our monthly financial report, we care for many animals each month, but the cost of medications, anesthesia, supplies, etc. far outweigh the income we generate from payment for our services. We never turn away an animal, regardless of the owner's ability to pay. We also have several great Collectors who gather animals from Boquete, Dolega, David and beyond and bring them to our clinic for neutering or spaying. Please help us continue to care for the health and well-being of Chiriqui's animals by making a donation of any size! | | | | | |  | | | |
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