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Helping Island Dogs and Cats
During the two weeks of the campaign we worked 10-14 hour days in the small town of Cabrera on the northeastern coast of the island. Nineteen volunteers came from all over the world at their own expense to help out. One group of volunteers would go out and pick up animals to bring to the clinic while another group would check in pets whose owners brought them in. The surgery and recovery crews would set up for the day, and surgery and recovery would often go into late into the afternoon. Then in the evening, we would return the animals who had no owner as well as the pets whose owners had no car. We had one Saturday off duty, but this trip was truly all about the animals. Many of these were pets, others were "street dogs" or dogs who were cared for but not officially "owned" such as the beach dogs in the photo above (left.)
Nearly all of them were infested with fleas and ticks and many were very thin and malnourished due to long term parasite infection. Even in the short time we were there we saw many animals greatly improve with simple parasite treatments.
Although we were working with intermittent electricity and no running water, I was amazed at the excellent anesthesia protocols and high level of care every animal received. (Photo on Right: Placing a catheter in a female dog.)
Supplies were donated and brought in from the US and the volunteer veterinarians and vet technicians were top notch.
In the end 266 animals were altered by the caring group of volunteers who believe strongly in this service mission.
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 A Worldwide Shift in Animal Welfare - A New Approach
Emma Clifford, founder and director of Animal Balance in the Dominican Republic ( www.animalbalance.org) and Bend Spay and Neuter Project share similar views on the solution to the pet overpopulation dilemma. While shelters help individual animals who find themselves homeless, we work to prevent the overwhelming numbers of unwanted animals thereby addressing the problem at the root. Large scale prevention of suffering and meaningful change in the overall state of animal welfare must center around high volume, affordable, accessible spay and neuter services as well as education about the issue.
The challenges of performing the numbers of high quality sterilization procedures required to make a difference are numerous. Funding, veterinary support, and volunteer labor are all required to succeed. In the last 10-15 years, high volume, affordable spay and neuter services are proving there is hope to this seemingly endless problem.
Please support this important change in animal welfare!
SPAY ~ NEUTER ~ ADOPT ~ LOVE |
