Dottie Atwater

Which "scientists" should you follow, Gordon? The article says "20 top US scientists" say GMO's are okay. As always, follow the money. Who pay them and pays for their "research?" There are a lot more than 20 scientists who say GMO's are questionable at best, harmful at worst. Here are just a few links. There are many more: http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/scientists-against-gmos-hear-from-those-who-have-done-the-research http://naturalsociety.com/800-scientists-global-gmo-experiment-stop/ http://www.saynotogmos.org/scientists_speak.htm Personally, I don't care who is "pushing" GMO's: Monsanto, BASF, Bayer, Dupont, Dow, & Syngenta. I'll repeat what someone else said: if these companies are convinced GMO's are safe, why are they fighting tooth and nail to keep the information off of labels?

Sounds typical of the US. Someone is always wanting to regulate something ridiculous. But of course they won't "regulate" anything important, such mandating that food labels advise whether ingredients are GMO.

The current corregidor in Volcan is said to be a lawyer, as was the former one. That doesn't mean they know the law or if they do, will bother themselves to enforce it. I understand that a corregidor is a political appointment. But thanks for the idea about the media, Roger. Back when I filed a denuncia (and got the dog removed from the owner), I had finally enlisted the help of Annette Quinn. She has a radio show in PC with a wide audience. She does not speak English. Her email is annettequinn0@gmail.com Please pass this information on to the people whose dog was beat to death so they can get her help to enforce the corregidor to do his/her job in criminally prosecuting this psychopath. As you say, these corregidors do not want publicity.

Unfortunately, they (the legal documents) are needed a lot. But also unfortunately, many people don't use the law because they are reluctant to upset a neighbor. (In that case they are complicit in the suffering of the animal.) Or they just don't want to go to the trouble. (And yes, it's a lot of trouble trying to force the corregidor to obey the law.) So bless these people who are struggling to have the corregidor criminally punish their cousin who beat their dog to death. ---------------------- Recently someone called a Panamanian friend who is also an animal advocate. The person who called said "an injured dog was in a ditch." My friend called me. Jose and I went to search for the location, and after difficulty, we found the person who had called. We had to actually walk through their house to find a huge ditch, overgrown with brush and trees. Jose managed to get the dog from the ditch. The male dog had been hit by a car and his back was broken. He must have been able to drag himself into the ditch, which was behind where he lived. (We didn't know that at the time.) I came home to get anesthesia and Euthanix. But when I got back, the people said the dog belonged to their brother-in-law and they didn't want to us to put him down without the owner's permission. Everyone there said the owner was at work and they didn't have the his phone number. I came home and emailed my Panamanian friend. Some time later, she called, said she had contacted the Corregidor, who was waiting for us to come get her and take her to the dog. When we returned to the house, after more discussion about the owner's phone number, the people directed us the owner's wife--who lived next door. More discussion about the phone number, but the wife finally gave it to the Corregidor. (God forbid that most Panamanian women can actually make a decision; they have to ask their husbands.) He gave permission to put the dog down. After we put the poor thing down and stopped his suffering, we started to leave. But the Corregidor made us take the body to dispose of. So the owner had no involvement, no expense, no participation, no responsibility, and the dog suffered for several hours more even after we were notified and found him. The law doesn't specify one way or the other about getting "permission" to put down a suffering animal. It does say that the euthanasia is to be done by a veterinarian; however, we don't have any "veterinarians" here in Volcan and I've put down numerous dogs that were irrevocably injured. Sometimes street dogs, and sometimes at the request of the owner...after the dog has suffered for days upon days. (If there would be a chance for them, I'd take them to the border to Dr. Tello.) If anyone wants to complain about my doing that, let 'em have at it. Something needs to be specified about this in the law. I've heard heartbreaking stories about horses being hit by a car on our side of the volcano but having to wait hours for INAM (I think) to arrive and put the animal down...and they don't even have the proper Euthanix. OK, my rant for the day.

I just sent both files to support. Thanks, Bud. I wish people in that area would get up in arms and force the corregedor to punish this perpetrator according to the law. (And maybe it's time for some "vigilante justice?) This whole thing just makes me sick!

I agree! This person is dangerous!

The "value" of the dog? Get real! If the corregedor doesn't know the law, someone should provide a copy to him/her, and make sure the maximum penalty is applied to the perpetrator. If the corregedor doesn't enforce the law, then go to the mayor, who is the boss of the corregedor. (Just in case someone needs a copy of the law, I'll be happy to upload it here in both English and Spanish.)

Oh, my god! How horrible. Google won't translate this page. Keith, are you SURE the corregedor is being "forced" to act? Under the law, this should be a $1,000 fine, minimum. And if the perpetrator doesn't pay it, he should stay in jail until he does.

Thanks for the information. It's good to know I'm not alone. I am definitely keeping records but I don't know anyone else in my neighborhood that has CO. I haven't called back because I'm waiting to get the Cable & Wireless line reinstalled and then find out if I can actually get 10Mb with them.

I'd had Cable y Wireless for years (4Mg) but changed to Cable Onda 10Mb on Saturday, May 21st. I've had nothing but problems with CO, with the internet disconnecting and reconnecting frequently, causing "This site can't be reached" and "Unable to resolve server's DNS." Plus the phone doesn't even work half the time. Fortunately I had not discontinued my C&W service, although CO replaced the line into my house with theirs. I'm having a C&W technician come to reinstall their line into my house. Then I'll subscribe to 10Mb with C&W and take the Cable Onda junk back to their store. Some people have good experiences with Cable Onda. I'm one who didn't. ------------------------- Update: May 28. CO is working better now, but not perfectly. Right off the bat, I experienced a brief disconnect, then reconnect. Up until today, every morning I've had to re-enter my network settings. I still can't download to my Kindle, though. The C&W technicians still haven't been here to reinstall the line into my house. Fortunately, I know a head of IT in Panama City. He said after the line is reinstalled, then he can check to determine if the lines to the pole and to my house are sufficient to allow me to have 10Mb.

Thank you, Marcelyn. Here we have clinics once a month with only one veterinarian, Dr. Andres Tello. We just keep plugging along!

Sunday, May 22, 2016 - 41 animals were spayed/neutered by Dr. Andres Tello, our wonderful veterinarian. Plus he removed a huge venereal tumor from a male dog and he examined and diagnosed a hind-leg limp of a dog. http://spaypanama-chiriqui.org/94th.html A man brought his female puppy to be spayed. He said he would be leaving Panama in a few days and wanted to find a home for the puppy. Jose's cousin wants the puppy and I am fostering her while the cousin has her fence rebuilt. The puppy, Niña, is really cute! Blessings and thanks to Roseanne Bateman and Marguerite Morris. They find homeless dogs at a local restaurant and bring them to be sterilized. We have now sterilized 3,462 dogs and cats. Be sure to see my Flickr Album for pictures. The link is near the bottom of the web page. Dottie

What a beautiful dog. And this chain looks short enough that the owner has broken the law for four years. Has anything been done to him (the owner)?

It's not just American vets that have problems. Some years back Dr. Crespo spearheaded a group of vets who tried to shut down our spay/neuter clinics in Volcan. (A complete, incompetent jerk!) He couldn't succeed because spaypanama-chiriqui is under the umbrella of Spay Panama and we are authorized by them to operate. Plus, Dr. Tello is licensed in Panama as well as Costa Rica. (He is Panamanian but lives and has his clinic in Costa Rica.) The fact that Dr. Crespo tried to do this is a huge black mark against him in my opinion. (Added to the fact that many people say he has killed their dog.)

It can work for other things/illnesses, too. Read the file. You'll be amazed.

I am surprised that no one has commented on my post or the file I uploaded re injectable vitamin C. It may work as well as anti-venom.

So sorry to hear about your loss, TwoSailors. Injectable Vitamin C is reported to do wonders for snake bite, pavo, and many other things. I'm attaching a file that explains a lot about it. I have the injectable vitamin C on hand that I got from Dr. Tello. The people at Amigos de Animales can get it from the Costa Rica vets. (There is none available in Panama.) The article mentions using 18ga. needles but I've found the regular needles work just fine. Our Vit.C may be less viscous than what's mentioned in the article. I've personally used it to cure very sick dogs at two different times. Each time I thought they were going to die but the next morning they were completely normal. I also have some very fine Vitamin C powder (from Amazon) that I can mix with a little water and give orally. The Vitamin C injection stings. When the dog is very sick, they don't complain a bit. When they're feeling better, they do, and that's when I switch to the oral method. The injectable Vitamin C solution has no taste. (I tried it.) So I think it could also be used orally if the injection is too painful. I believe it is impossible to overdose on Vitamin C. I hope this helps. We need all the information about self-administered care for our animals we can get. Dottie Vitamin C Injectable.odt

Re Dra. Velky Batia at Mae Lewis. Has anyone been to her. Like her? Does she speak English. Thanks.

Congratulations! Another job well done!

Just like in the US.

Marcelyn, I really can't comment about how much this would help the agricultural area. And frankly, I don't have a problem with the road between Concepcion and Volcan as it now exists with its beautiful views. Sometimes a long line of cars is behind a VERY slow-moving truck, so for better safety (for those in a BIG hurry) perhaps the government could create a few widened passing areas. That would be a lot less expensive than a four-lane road. As an aside, a year or two ago a huge cold-storage plant was built to keep veges fresh prior to shipping but as far as I know, it has never been operational.

44 animals were spayed/neutered by Dr. Andres Tello, our wonderful veterinarian. He also performed three exams/treatments and ended up amputating the tumorous toe of a big dog. He will biopsy the toe to determine if it is cancerous. http://spaypanama-chiriqui.org/93rd.html We had still another beautiful day. We have never had a clinic day with excessive rain or wind. Spirit smiles upon us for doing this work from our hearts to help the animals! We have now sterilized 3,421 dogs and cats. Be sure to see my Flickr Album for pictures. The link is near the bottom of the web page. I saw an excellent quote that describes so many of us: Rescuers, rescue supporters and volunteers do not walk on water. We don't wear capes and tights or leap tall buildings. We aren't better than anyone else, but we do pursue a cause that we believe makes us better than before we started. We make mistakes. We feel we can't do enough. We rant out in frustration, we lose our tempers and get snappy. We have to reject people sometimes for the good of a dog. We are not always likable. What we do is draining--emotionally, financially, and physically. Please bear with us and forgive us our flaws, because we are doing work that is bigger than we are. --Author Unknown Our next clinic will be on May 22, 2016. Please call for an appointment right away because the clinics fill up rapidly. Dottie

Excellent posts. And speaking of Amigos de Animales...when I first began the spay/neuter clinics in Volcan, I didn't have a clue! Ruby McKenzie, Judy Odom, Dr. Chely and a few others from Boquete came to quite a few of our initial clinics to help--and to teach me what the heck to do! I will always be grateful to them.

El Matador...the killer? What an odd name for someone who sells dog products.

I like to support local vendors, too. However, the local coconut oil (not organic, not cold pressed) has become very scarce in the Volcan area. I had been buying 1/2 gallon at a time but with my last purchase I was able to get only a pint. That's another reason I was so glad to find an ample supply at Price Smart.