NEWS

This little one-pounder should have roused from the anesthesia five minutes ago. I begin to worry. The little chihuahua I had just spayed seems to be having a hard time waking up. I grab a little bit of the sweet tea I brought for my lunch and first wet her nose, then place a couple drops in her mouth. I let out a sigh of relief as she starts to wiggle. 

I have spent the week training with the McKee Foundation here in Costa Rica to learn their Advanced Spay Method.  The first day, Davide Ulivieri, founder of Cycle 4 Strays and collaborator with McKee, and I mount our bicycles and climb up and soar down San Jose’s streets toward Carla Ferraro’s house. The weather is just perfect, a nice breeze with the smell of rain and coffee plantations. Ferraro, the McKee Foundation Program Director, leads me to the organization’s offices, a small trailer in her front yard.

The McKee Foundation has been working for the past ten years educating veterinarians, communities and local authorities in Costa Rica and in other Central and South American countries about the benefits of sterilization and particularly how to work together.

In action

We arrive at an elementary school in La Aurora, a poor neighborhood south of San Jose.  It’s 9:00 am and already a long line has formed of people with their dogs.  I overhear a woman saying that she is going to give some puppies away after she gets them fixed. She ends up receiving a 25% discount for being proactive! At the entrance there is a volunteer for ANPA (National Association for Animal Protection) registering the patients and recording the owners’ contact information. Once they’ve paid for the procedure, a number is assigned to the pet. There are already 70 animals registered, and the atmosphere is surprisingly quiet, no barking or fighting.

The cost for one animal is about $12, which is decided upon by the veterinarians and the non-profit (today, the ANPA), and the economic class of the neighborhood. The vets charge $10 and the other $2 go to the non-profit to cover any special treatments needed and all the advertising materials. ANPA has been working in this particular neighborhood for the past three years. They charged slightly less in the beginning, and after a few months increased the prices little by little. An additional bonus to the participating vets is that more than a quarter of the folks who bring in their animals to the spay/neuter clinics become returning clients.

We follow the line to a small classroom where Dr. Rosalinda Alvarez and Dr. Carol Miranda have already sterilized fifteen dogs each. The arrangement in the room is very simple—just two tables for surgery, two more for prepping and materials, and a cleaning station. The basics are used and prove sufficient.  Each procedure takes just six to fifteen minutes, and the animals begin to wake up about five minutes later. Two volunteers keep an eye on the animals as they wake up. Once they are stable, the volunteers take them to their owners with discharge instructions and four days of antibiotics and pain relievers.

The total for this day’s work is 87 animals sterilized! What a great experience!

My Turn

The next morning, Davide, Carla and I head to meet Dr. Blas Rivas, the cheif medical instructor for the McKee Foundation. He has been working alongside McKee for the past ten years teaching the technique he learned in the U.S.

It is 9:00 a.m. and Dr Rivas has fifteen dogs and two cats set for surgery this morning. He demonstrates the technique to me on couple of dogs. It’s very similar to the one I saw yesterday.

And now it is my turn with the scalpel. I must say I am very nervous. I move through the spay procedure slowly and can feel my heart pumping in my chest. I become more confident as I perform the surgery on a couple more dogs. It is 2:00 p.m. when the last patient leaves the table. I’m thrilled with my accomplishment for the day: I spayed eleven dogs and two cats. I can’t wait for this weekend when I will be able to participate in a community spay/neuter campaign.

Advertising

The McKee group and volunteers advertise for the campaigns by initially talking to popular members of the community. Then volunteers go door to door to educate their neighbors on the benefits of sterilization. They have found that printed materials are helpful.  In one particular neighborhood, the community has embraced the idea and now has a monthly spay/neuter clinic.

Later that day Carla shows me a series of presentations that McKee uses to educate communities who are interested in reducing the overpopulation of stray animals. Along with statistics and testimonies, the presentation includes information based on the McKee’s success in Costa Rica. Education, continuity, sustainability, affordability, cooperation, enthusiasm are some of the words that come to mind as I listen to Carla. This experience has opened my eyes to the real solution to the overpopulation of dogs and cats. The McKee Foundation proposes a concrete solution, and I want to be part of this solution.

Final Weekend

I get to participate in another campaign organized by ANPA in Desamparados, a very poor neighborhood of San Jose. Today’s campaign takes place in a home-based hair salon. The living room that is normally a salon will be a surgery suite today. All the equipment necessary for the clinic fits in the back of Dr Rivas's C-RV. We set up in five minutes and start with the first patient five minutes later. Today is just a warm up for tomorrow. Did I mention no one needs a surgery light?

The next morning we start bright and early at 7:00 am visiting a couple small campaigns going on in different parts of the city. We arrived at La Guacima High School. This campaign is the last one of the year sponsored by the Municipality of Guacima. The goal is to spay/neuter 175 dogs and cats.

There are about 80 dogs and their owners waiting in line to be called. Two classrooms are set up in the same fashion as yesterday. Dr Chris in one room with two vet students and two volunteers.

It hits 4:30 p.m. when the daylight starts to fade; we move the tables under the only three light bulbs in the room and keep going.

By 7:30 pm the last dog is off the table. The counts are: two extraordinary vets and I, five exhausted students, five awesome volunteers and 217 spay/neutered dogs/cats.

The next day, we head to Dr. Rivas’s clinic for the last campaign of the year.  I perform eight dog spays in two hours. Dr Rivas is an excellent teacher and a great veterinarian. I time him just for the heck of it: three minutes and 52 seconds to spay a 20-pound dog. That is incredible! What an extraordinary experience I have had.

As I think back, I especially remember one young girl and her puppy. She had just gotten out of school for the day and brought her dog to be spayed at the community clinic. She had saved a month’s allowance not only to make a better life for this one puppy, but in essence, to help to stop the overpopulation of stray animals. She exemplifies what this is all about: education and action.

• To read previous article on the McKee Foundations TNR projects, click here.
• For more information on Cycle 4 Strays, an organization cycling for animal welfare, click here.

photos by Aldo Wilson