On Sunday February 18, 2018, Amigos de Animales spayed or neutered 132 animals - 59 dogs and 73 cats. We had expected 168 animals, so this was a bit less than anticipated. Trying to determine the number of animals at any given clinic continues to be an issue. Too many animals results in tired and overworked vets and volunteers, too few animals results is an early closing (not always the worst), but our vets travel a long way and expect a full day. This is something that we continue to work on and tweak. It is very gratifying to see the number of young Panamanians who are now volunteering at our clinics. The Guadalupano School requires that their students do 80 hours of community service and many of them choose to volunteer at our clinics to fill the requirement. Some are typical teenagers and want to spend time on their phones, but most are interested in learning and are of great assistance to us. One young man, Roberto Guitan, came to us last year and has not missed a clinic since. He helps out in the post-op area as well as filling in anywhere he is needed. He speaks excellent English and helps us in talking to our Panamanian pet owners as well. Many of us who volunteer work in the recovery area, where we can sit at a table and help revive cats and small dogs. Larger dogs, however, need to be revived on the floor and we worry that we might not be able to get back up! That is where the young volunteers are especially helpful – they have no problem getting up and down. We will continue to mentor those young people who show interest; perhaps we will see some new vets emerging from the clinics. You might have noticed our friend John Hampton filming around the most recent clinic We were very pleased with the video he did last year and now he is putting together a video for us to be able to use for our pet owners to explain the process the animals have just gone through and how to best help them heal at home. This video will be done in conjunction with Pat Chan of Spay Panama and will be translated into Spanish and Gnäbe. We see this as another tool in our effort to continually educate Panamanians in the importance of spay/neuter and overall pet care. The next clinic will be Sunday March 25, 2018. For a reservation, contact Magaly at 6563-8686 or boqueteanimales@gmail.com To volunteer, contact Leslie at brubble51b@gmail.com | |
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