Amigos de Animales June Newsletter

[NewsLady]

On Sunday May 26, Amigos de Animales spayed or neutered 210 animals, with six wonderful vets working. There were 104 dogs and 106 cats, a very narrow margin. But that is not all the information I now have. Our friend and new-ish volunteer, Andy Mitchell, is developing a program that can give us more information about our clinics at our fingertips than we have ever had before. It is amazing! Ruby often has spent hours going through our registration sheets and the vet sheets to track down information about where the animals are coming from, the average age of the animals, how many animals were brought in by the collectors – we are truly entering the information age – at last. In future newsletters we will share some of this data with you. We are also streamlining the registration process. Pre-registration forms are now available to anyone who contacts Magaly via phone or WhatsApp or online. These forms are easy to fill out and will generate a number which will serve as your confirmation number – you must bring that when you check in at the clinic. This is critical to eliminating the bottlenecks in the morning at registration. So critical, that our new policy states that if you have not pre-registered, you will have to wait until after noon to register and get a number for your animal. That does not mean that your animal will not be taken care of, just that you must wait while those who have taken the few extra minutes to pre-register are first served. We just went to Puerto Armuelles to help with their second spay neuter clinic. About 12 of us also went in January for the first one and have been working with their volunteers to help them get their clinics up and running. To that end, Dovanna Dean and Kim Thompson brought about 16 students for training to the May clinic. They came on a bus that had been sponsored by the Police Commissioner there. He wanted to make sure that everyone in his community was working together to unite for the benefit of the animals – which we know from experience here makes for a cleaner safer community. These were seniors in The English School at Centro Regional de Baru and their goal is to raise awareness of the need in Puerto Armuelles for animal welfare and education. We were certainly glad to have these students! For some reason, many of our regulars in Recovery were not there and without these trainee volunteers, we would have been very short-handed. Please volunteer for the June 30 clinic! REPORT FROM KIRSTEN QUIMBY Got word there was another location right here in Volcancito that needed cats sterilized.   I was waiting for Christine Landau to go with me to speak with the lady.   The neighbors were complaining and said there were many cats. The day before the May clinic we went to speak with the owner of the cats.  When we walked up you could see she was very guarded and wary of our intentions.   We continued smiling and told her we were only there to help.  We were not there to say she was doing anything wrong and we stressed again, we were there to help with the cats. It just so happens she had a female cat in heat in the house and Christine and I looked at each other with the same thought in mind....sterilize!!  So she was the first cat done from this new location. There are only 10 cats and 3 were sterilized previously.  I offered a bag of Kirkland cat food so the cats would have something more substantial than rice and whatever.   I walked to the car to get the food and later Christine told me how pleased and happy the lady was to receive the bag of food.  Christine said when I came around the corner with the bag, the woman just lit up.  We left smiling and hugging.   A situation that first began with trepidation ended with joy all around. The woman's name is Dora and the cat sterilized was Nini Nin.  It is so wonderful to see how some folks truly care for their cats and have names for them. Progress Report on Luna Look at the progress! Doesn't even look like the same dog.  We went to deliver cat food and we were so thrilled to see what a transformation. Luna is scheduled to be sterilized at the end of the month and then will be returned to the owners.  Lupe "informed them" if she sees that Luna is not being properly cared for Lupe will take her back.   Go Lupe!! Thanks, Kirsten HELP SUPPORT THESE ANIMALS Join the happy Paws Club….. Our next clinic will be Sunday June 30. To volunteer, contact Alicia at akcleavenger@hotmail.com Animales needs you!  We need help in the Recovery area, the kitchen, and because our fabulous photographer Cynthia is needed in Pre-Op, we need a photographer.  We can offer good people, good food, good vibes, and the opportunity to work with a great organization.  No experience needed, just a willingness to join in and help us make a difference in our community.  Contact me at akcleavenger@hotmail.com I hope to hear from you! To register (and you must pre-register) contact Magaly through phone or WhatsApp at 6563-8686, get the form on our website.