March newsletter - Amigos de Animales

NewsLady · March 22, 2022

Our mission is to provide low cost spaying and neutering of dogs and cats, and to promote the general welfare of animals in our community and surrounding areas.

Si prefiere recibir los correos electrónicos en español, haga clic aquí.

AMIGOS DE ANIMALES BOQUETE PANAMÁ

MARCH 2022 NEWSLETTER

"PLEASURES OF PANAMA" FUNDRAISER

There is still time to purchase your tickets to our "Pleasures of Panamá" fundraiser! Here are the prizes:

GRAND PRIZE: an amazing fishing trip for 4 on the world-renowned Hannibal Bank with "Sport Fish Panama", then enjoy dinner and one night stay at Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge - value $3,100 (or cash of $1,000). Click here for more info.

2nd Prize: up to 8 people can yacht the morning or afternoon away in the beautiful waters around Bocas del Toro, then enjoy a 2-night stay for 4 at Red Frog Beach Island Resort (or cash of $500). Click here for more info.

2022%20Pleasures%20of%20Panama%20Initial%20Flyer-rev.jpg

3rd Prize: one pound of Geisha coffee per month for a year. Coffee can be shipped to you if you live outside of Panama.

A maximum of 200 tickets will be sold and only 91 remain. Tickets are $100 each and you may purchase one or more. The drawing will be held on April 15, 2022. Winners do not need to be present.

Our average cost of one sterilization is over $25. For each ticket purchased, you are covering the cost of sterilizing 4 animals. Please help.

Purchase tickets here

2 UNSTERILIZED DOGS

LEADS TO 14 PUPPIES

Here is a recent, local story of what can happen when you don’t sterilize:

An elderly woman had her two unsterilized female dogs for 11 and 8 years. In December she let the dogs out for a short while in her fenced back yard. Apparently both were in heat and a male dog jumped the fence and impregnated both dogs. In 63 days, the woman went from 2 dogs to 16 dogs. She brought both adult female dogs to our February clinic to be sterilized and will bring the puppies as soon as possible.

Look at it dollar wise as well. She went from $40 for 2 dogs to an additional $280 for the 12 puppies, a total of $320. Not to mention the extra costs for food and vet care.

We are the preventers - help us prevent this from happening to someone else. We have made gift certificates in the denomination of $10 and $20, the cost of an individual sterilization for a cat or a dog. Give your neighbors, gardeners and maids certificates for their dogs and cats. Let’s help each other help each other!

These certificates are an easy way to help. They are available at the Animales table at the BCP Tuesday Market or at the clinics. Or you can simply donate to sponsor animals for owners who can’t afford to pay.

Donate here

FEBRUARY 2022 CLINIC

On Sunday February 27, Amigos de Animales spayed or neutered 258 animals, 118 dogs and 140 cats with seven vets working all day. 69% of the animals were female and 58% came from Boquete. Of this, 219 animals were brought in by owners and 39 came from collectors.

We have 275 animals registered for our next clinic to be held on March 27th. We have finally gotten through our waiting list, but get new requests daily. See more statistics below.

In January we raised our prices for the first time in years to $20 for a dog and $10 for a cat which has enabled us to pay our vets more for their services. Despite that, we still lose approximately $3,000 at each clinic.

CHANGE IS COMING & WE NEED VOLUNTEERS

Change is coming, change is good! Our president, Alicia McGuigan, is stepping down as of our Annual Meeting and Election of Officers on April 21. We are looking forward to finding someone with good energy and organization skills to take Animales into the future. We need someone who is not afraid to get involved at all levels, from dog and cat food delivery, to asking for donations, to meeting with executives of companies to ask them to join our mission of spay/neuter in the community.

All of us on the Board need backup. We have many small jobs or tasks that need volunteer involvement as we are not just a once a month organization. Most do not require a great deal of time commitment and could be done from home, but are very important to keeping Animales running. Some of those jobs are:

• Laundry - drop off and pick up

• Purchasing-medical supplies

• Purchasing-clinic supplies

• Food for clinic

• Food for events

• Social events

• Facility rentals

• Facility management & upkeep

• Membership

• Calendar

• Newsletter

• Fundraising
• Social media/communications
• Community outreach
• Thank yous
• Marketing/graphic design/website
• Animal food drive
• Education
• Mobile clinic driver and organizer

If you are interested, or want to learn more about, any of these opportunites, please contact Alicia at akcleavenger@hotmail.com.

2022 CALENDAR

The 2022 Amigos de Animales calendar is going fast! It only costs $10, and is available at the BCP Tuesday Market, Sugar & Spice, Mike’s, MailBoxes and Larry's Place. Be sure to get your copy before they are all gone!

MARK YOUR 2022 CALENDAR - UPCOMING EVENTS

• Training - you can watch our training here. Station heads will contact new volunteers for date & time before the next clinic. Contact Alicia if you have any questions.

• Clinic - Sunday, March 27th (future dates will be the last Sunday of each month, except we are dark in November and December)

• Fundraiser - "Pleasures of Panama" Non-Raffle - now until April 15th

• Volunteer Appreciation Party - postponed - date to be determined

• Annual Meeting - Thursday, April 21st @ 10 AM

KIBBLE & BITS:

• Food Drive: We are continuing to feed dogs and cats in Boquete at a cost of almost $1,000 per month. You can donate by clicking here

• 2023 Calendar: It's that time when we start the search for our 2023 calendar. Celebrate your dog, cat, horse, chicken or other favorite animal. Cost is $150 per page. Sponsorships are also available. Sign up at the BCP Tuesday Market, or contact Jennifer at landjpascal@msn.com or 6398-7274.

• Spay or neuter your animal: we have gotten through our waiting list, but we are following MINSA rules and doing clinics by appointment only. Contact Rosa, our appointment coordinator, at 6563-8686 to be added to our list.

• Rescue/adoption?: The mission of Amigos de Animales is strictly spay and neuter, we are not a rescue, adoption or veterinary service. Please do not ask Rosa about any other services.

• We have been updating our website - check it out here

• Animales is always looking for stories and pictures to share in this newsletter.

Please contact Alicia at akcleavenger@hotmail.com if you are interested.

WAYS TO HELP AMIGOS DE ANIMALES:

• Donations: Any amount will help. If you are a U.S. citizen, you can deduct $300 on your tax return ($600 joint) even if you don't itemize deductions.

Click here for ways you can make a donation

• If you would like to volunteer for Animales, contact Alicia at akcleavenger@hotmail.com

• If you can donate dog or cat food, please drop it off at the Amigos de Boquete office in Alto Dorado or contact akcleavenger@hotmail.com

• Don't forget, the Animales Events Center is available to rent for meetings and gatherings of any kind. For rates and dates, contact us.