Osa was a loyal family dog. Very smart, protective and loving. We helped her family to have her spayed, and once again when she got in a car accident, when we paid for her surgery. It looked like her family cared about her, but this changed when the first symptoms of a disease appeared. Osa was replaced by a little black puppy, which took her place while she was now spending her last days just a few meters away from her house on the same street. When we found out about Osa, it was already too late. She spent 5 more days in a clinic in intensive care until her kidneys and liver, now both affected by advanced ehrlichia, simply stopped working. If the owner would have had her tested when the first symptoms appeared, Osa would be healthy today, after receiving a simple antibiotics treatment.
We returned Osa’s body to the family, hoping that seeing this dog which had spent years with them dead (as well as having to deal with her body) might make them feel bad. And that maybe they might reflect on what they had done. Wrong – their only concern was where to cast her off, and they showed visible discontent when we made sure that they understand that she cannot be just thrown away, that she needs to actually be buried.
This was a very sad moment, one of those when one starts doubting about the sense of our work…
PRESENTING “THE GOLDEN PAW AWARD”
THE “GOLDEN PAW AWARD” is presented twice a year by both OUR ORGANIZATION and by the magazine “PETS Y MAS”, and its purpose is to honor the people in our communities for their compassion and service toward animals. On June 9th, 2012 this award was presented to Cynthia Orozco Rodriguez from Jaco.
Cynthia helps all animals who happen to cross her path. Until about a year ago, Cynthia and her family were still living in their own house, set on a big piece of property where all animals were welcome at her place – she was one of our best foster homes for both dogs and cats. She and her kids were taking good care of all those which were sick and needed treatment, as they were staying with this extraordinary family until they got healthy, spayed/neutered and ready for their new homes. This had to change when Cynthia and her family had to leave their place and move to a small house where they are not allowed to keep any more dogs. So now Cynthia is taking care of kittens, especially those which need special care, like being fed with a bottle.
Because her space and the tolerance of her neighbors is very limited (and there’s no more than 4-5 kittens at a time to take care of) Cynthia decided that she can also take care of animals in need which stay in other places, where the people are willing to let them stay on their property, but not willing (or able to) give them the necessary care. Kind of like ambulatory care, very common in human care. Cynthia visits the patients every day, some occasionally twice a day, feeding and treating them and making sure that they are receiving all that they need. She is mostly accompanied by at least two of her kids, which love helping her out. All 5 of her kids, and of course also her husband are involved in this charity work she performs every single day. Thank you Cynthia and family, for all the time and love you give to those furry little friends who so need your help.
THE EDUCATION PROGRAM CONTINUES
Our education program “Sharing the world with the animals” continues. With 10 weekly presentations at Escuela Central de Jaco with its 750 students, and one weekly activity with the children from the little Escuela Las Monas with its 32 students. All of this month, Angela Maria concentrated her efforts on one very important subject: Animal Rights. In one of the older editions (2009) of the animal magazine “Pets y mas” we found a great article under the title of “The animals have rights”. We decided to use this article “adapting it” to be used in grades 1 through 6, making sure that all students, independent of their age, understand this very important message. At the end of each presentation, the students have to write a short story from their life that best illustrates one of the rights discussed during the class, painting a more solid picture of this right. There is a huge difference between the stories the kids wrote back in February (when we started our program this year) and now. Back then some stories were pretty scary – talking about animals dying in accidents with no help from anyone, chickens being trampled to death, etc. Now the kids are telling us about how they have rescued animals from the streets, how they have saved nests with baby-birds falling out of the trees, and how they brought their sick dog to the clinic.
The rights of ALL animals are discussed — those who are wild and have the right to be free, as well as those who cannot survive without our care and have a right to be loved, fed and taken care of. We are planning on publishing the art and the stories – some of them are really quite exceptional.
…and like always, a special thanks to Angela Maria Lozano Lorza, for her continued effort in designing the presentation in this very interesting and accessible way, and to the school principalVera Virginia Alpizar and to all the other teachers for their support and cooperation. And of course, to Mrs. Linda Look from the USA for sponsoring this so very important and innovative program.
ANOTHER 68 ANIMALS BELONGING TO LOW INCOME FAMILIES OR STRAYS SPAYED/NEUTERED THIS MONTH
Like so often in the past, we got lucky again – Dr. Ellen Gray and Dr. Kyle Farrell, the two extraordinary young vets who right after their graduation (instead of taking a week of well-deserved vacation) decided to come down here and don their scrubs, helping out wherever they were needed. We organized two spay days by combining the Plaza Boulevard Clinic together with this vet team, and even though the conditions were very different to what they are used to in their country, both veterinarians adjusted quickly to the “field conditions” here and did a wonderful job during the clinics.
Kyle and Ellen also brought us a lot of very needed meds, all donated by Shari Lindburg fromLloyd Inc. and Mandy Vinay from a vet clinic in Florida. The vets stayed in a beautiful beachfront condo in Jaco, who’s owner Mr. Stuart Welch provided for free to help this noble cause. Together with our little spay days with Dr. Jose Manuel Jimenez, and the surgeries performed in the Jaco and in the Herradura clinic by Dr. Wendy Villalobos and Dr. Yessenia Alpizar, we were able to spay/neuter 68 animals, all coming from the poor areas in Tarcoles, Jaco and Herradura.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS OF LAST MONTH
A huge Thank You goes out again to the sponsors of all three programs in this month of June –Linda Look, Stuart Welch, Liz from Taco Bar, Leo Plumley, Hotel Mar de Luz, Cathi Brennan, Wishbone Restaurant, Paola Alvarado, Hotel Los Ranchos, and Gabriela Contreras Cordero for their regular monthly support, as well as to The Bartholomew Family, Crystal Curry, Rachael Rudd, Heidi Copley, Barbara & Ardon Schambers, Dennis Ward – Capitan of “Never say never”, Susie Wardle,
Jan Tilson & Greg Bertrand – Hotel Vista Pacifico, Engelberth Triana Villalobos, Dr. Ellen Gray, Dr. Kyle Farrell, Mandy Vinay, Shari Lindburg – LLOYD INC., Rita & Steve DeVore – Casa Bella Rita, Lilly & Till – Hotel Tortuga del Mar, Rubi & Tim Olson, Judy Witt, Sylvia van Baekel, Krystel Byers Silverstein, Lisa & Hugo Camilieri – Hotel El Jardin, Calypso Tours, Importadora Monge Jaco, Canopy Vista Los Suenos, Discovery Horse Tours, Café del Mar, DayStar, Anna Pilz,
Hotel Marriott – Herradura, Judy Witt, for their support this month.
Thank you for your time.
Katja Bader,
McKee Jaco