The 4 days we spent in Tarcoles offering spay/neuter, general checkups and vaccines to the low-income members of the community, was a perfect example of HOW THIS COMMUNITY HAS CHANGED IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. The pet owners who brought their pets in were very interested in learning more about better animal care, asking how to prevent the most common diseases and how to treat their pets if they get sick. It turned out to be not just a clinic, but an educational event as well. Never before had we seen so many well – maintained pets, and so many responsible owners considerate of not only the health of their pets, but also wanting to have them spayed/neutered, in order to help to fight the overpopulation of dogs and cats. There were many male dogs and male cats waiting to be neutered, which in anyone’s estimation is a great sign in communities down here, as before we were lucky to see a few females brought in for spaying.
These clinics were organized by combining the Plaza Boulevard Clinic together with afabulous team of 2 vets and 7 students from CORNELL UNIVERSITY in New York. Our U.S. guests donated to the community of Tarcoles not only their time, they also supplied free of charge all supplies and materials needed during the clinics, as well as meds such as antibiotics, pain meds and a host of other items.
42 ANIMALS, ALL STRAYS AND ANIMALS BELONGING TO EXTREMELY POOR FAMILIES WERE SPAYED/NEUTERED during these 4 days. Another 40 WERE ATTENDED TO FOR THE GENERAL CHECK UP, SOME OF THEM RECEIVING TREATMENT, OTHERS ALL THE NECESSARY VACCINES. The teams were working 8 hours every day, first “adapting” the patios of a private house into a provisional clinic, and then proceeding with the treatments and surgeries in these most difficult conditions. Thank you to Dr. Bernabé Berrocal from Veterinaria Plaza Boulevard, to Dr. Paul Maza and Dr. Jaime Venezia from CORNELL UNIVERSITY in NEW YORK, as well as Amari Suskin Sperry, Sarah Wengert, Nadine Cross, Allison Cowan, Kate Bibi, Nicole Gianfrancesco and Andrew Massaro – all vet students of the same University.
A special thanks goes also to Patri Holmer for organizing the patients for these 4 days, and for providing a place to stay for all our guests totally free of charge. This beautiful home had enough space to be used as a clinic as well, which made the organization just that much easier. Thanks also to Maria Lizano Rosales for preparing a delicious meal for all volunteers on Wednesday and to her 12 years old son Nigel Castillo Lizano for helping to take care of the animals before and after the surgery. And to Leo Hogan,Sylvia van Baekel and Doris Schluckebier for helping out wherever they were needed.
Together with the mini spay-days held in both clinics, we were able to spay/neuter 78 animals during the month of July, and of course thank you to all vets and sponsors for their cooperation.
EDUCATION NEVER STOPS…
Another successful educational activity by MCKEE JACO and The Art School MIREVEA was running from July 1 to July 12 in the Mirevea facilities in Jaco, Pueblo Nuevo. It’s a part of our education program titled “SHARING THE WORLD WITH THE ANIMALS” that was developed in 2009 by CYNTHIA LIZANO, later improved byANGELA MARIA LOZANO. Our primary target is educating the younger members of our community towards a better understanding of the needs of all animals, as well as the relationship between animals and people, and how we both interact with and relate to our environment. During these 2 weeks the kids were working on a large (1 meter high) sculpture of a parrot, which acts as a symbol all wild life animals which are so often captured, only to end up living a miserable life in captivity in Costa Rican homes. This sculpture will be donated to the Jaco main school ESCUELA CENTRAL. The message of this so very important activity is: EVEN IF YOUR BIRD WAS BORN IN CAPTIVITY, AND PURCHASED LEGALLY AT A BREEDER, THIS STILL DOESN’T MAKE IT A PET. Thank you to ZORAN and MIMI ARANDJELOVIC for sponsoring the materials for this great activity.
SPONSOR NEEDED FOR RON
RON’S STORY is sad but with happy ending.
He was hit by a car on May 5th. Even though he’s a stray, and his injuries were quite serious, we wanted to give him a decent chance for a better life, which is what we always do in cases like this. Unfortunately his recuperation has been really slow, and we actually had to have one of his front legs amputated, which is really a shame, as his back legs were affected by the impact as well.
Today, almost 3 months later, he can move a bit better, and he is showing decent progress daily, and will soon be able to walk and even run straight, though maybe a little unsteady and shaky in the beginning, but who wouldn’t be after such a traumatic event?
The other tragedy about Ron is that due to the accident and the painful treatments he’s become even more timid and skittish than he was before. He is distrustful of humans but great with other dogs.
Desperately we were looking for a secure place to stay for Ron and it looked like it will be one of those difficult cases with no solution. An then I received a call from my friendMarina, who together with her husband Dwight decided to adopt Ron and give him a chance for a new, better life. Thank you guys for being his angels – AFTER WHAT HE WENT THROUGH, WE FEEL THAT HE REALLY DESERVES THE BEST.
Now we need to deal with his outstanding bills – as for today it’s $344 to pay in Jaco and $300 to pay at UNA in Heredia. TacoBar in Jaco offered to cover the UNA bill, and Angela Felzmann contributed to the other one, so there will be now the amount of $324 still outstanding. Thank you guys so much for helping us with this!
If you would like to help as well, please let us know.
Thank you for your time.
Katja Bader
Asociacion Pro Bienestar Animal (McKee Jaco)