In January the cold weather and snow makes it difficult to carry out spay campaigns in Romania so the Animal Spay and Neuter International (ASNI ) team keeps busy internationally, developing associations with other welfare groups. This time we had the pleasure of working with Amigos de Lucky in the Dominican Republic and were joined in this project by German group Pro K.
Amigos de Lucky (www.amigos-de-lucky.org)was founded and is run by husband and wife team Andreas and Miriam Busch. They have been involved in animal welfare in the Dominican Republic for over 12 years and work hard to provide sterilisation surgeries, treatments and education for the local people and stray animals. ASNI believes this presence in the local communities is the key for spay campaigns to have the maximum effect.
Pro K (www.tierschutz-pro-k.de) is a German based Animal Welfare community who share ASNI’s principles of sterilisation and education in improving animals’ welfare. Joining us on this campaign were their representatives Gabi Meister and Beate Gertjejanssen.
We also had the company of German volunteer Martina and Photographer Stefan Kirchhoff.
The ASNI team of Dr Aurelian Stefan, Dr Petrisor Stefan, Ruth Osborne VN and Luminita Negrila arrived in good spirits despite a journey of around 18 hours. The equipment was set up and we were ready to begin. The first 3 days we were working in Sanchez a small town in the north of the island. People had begun arriving before the advertised starting time so a crowd of men, women and children with dogs of all shapes and sizes were waiting for us. The Dominican local volunteers had them registered and organised into an orderly queue. Many waited patiently a long time for their turn, seeking shade out of the glare of the hot sun. Amigos de Lucky has been working in Sanchez for a little while now and they can see the difference in peoples attitudes towards the dogs they live with. Miriam told us now they hug the dogs in Sanchez which they did not see before.
Here we met Maya, a tiny little Chihuahua weighing around 1kg, who was in poor condition. She received IV fluids and supportive treatment until she was fit enough to be spayed. She will stay with Amigos de Lucky for a while before returning to her owner who will provide advice and all the support they need.
In Sanchez we removed a mammary tumour from one dog and the eye of a chihuahua with late stage glaucoma. The owner was in tears but very happy her little dog would not be in constant pain anymore.
The different groups of people quickly became a well oiled team. Not even when we lost electricity for most of one day were we deterred from our task. In addition to the surgery dogs and cats were treated for internal and external parasites, given vitamin supplements, received an ear tag or marking and a tattoo to show they are spayed. The people were very proud of having spayed dogs and would show how healthy their other dogs were spayed in previous campaigns on the island. They were excited that the dogs brought to this campaign were going to be healthier and happier. IV fluids were given in recovery to protect against dehydration with the hotter temperatures.
Other treatments were given as required. All dogs were checked for sticker tumours, a sexually transmitted tumour. We saw a significant number of cases but Miriam and Andreas will provide a chemotherapy course and should make a full recovery. The local people call these miracle dogs as they are amazed that such large ugly tumours can disappear so quickly. They also are enthusiastic about spaying all their dogs to prevent these tumours from occurring in the first place.
Our fourth day of work found us in Las Terrenas. This is the homebase for Amigos de Lucky so we could see the effects of long term education. The people seemed to enjoy the benefits of having cats and dogs as part of the family and every morning our journey to the campaign location involved stopping to pick up the animals of people waiting by the side of the road for us. Drive by spaying! We ended up with a few wet laps from nervous dogs and some nasty flea bites but happy people and spayed dogs made it very much worth it.
It was very noticeable the number of children coming with the dogs. The next generation of Dominican people will have a greater knowledge of animal welfare because of campaigns like these.
The people who really need the help often do not have transport. This campaign made a difference in that volunteers would go and collect people and their dogs and take them home afterwards. Bob from New York was one of the drivers. It was great to see him heading off with a car packed full with kids and dogs, no common language but a shared love of animals.
We were very lucky to have Stefan Kirchhoff (www.hundeschule-kirchhoff.de) with us to document the event. From still photos, to video, he captured every angle. He even put head cameras on people with different jobs to give an idea of what we see when we are working. Stefan also found time to catch and collect dogs and generally be wherever help was needed.
Our last day in Las Terrenas ended with a sweet street dog with terrible dental disease. She was very underweight probably due to difficulty eating. She required 20 teeth extracting but should be much happier now. Basic treatment but makes a huge difference to the health of one dog.
Our very last day was spent at a lake a little way from the town of El Valle. It is a remote area. There are regular campaigns across the bay by another animal welfare group but these are not accessible for the families of El Valle who have very little income and no transport. It was great to visit an area that had previously been overlooked. It was a quieter day with fewer surgeries than the previous days but certainly no less important. The first dog that greeted us this day was an older female with nipples close to the ground from litter after litter and puppies and a huge tumour from the back of the leg. Tumour removed, spayed and a little TLC and she already seemed happier before she went home.
In this campaign our team spayed and neutered 554 animals along with the other surgeries and treatments mentioned previously. Thankyou to the Pro K team, Gabi Meister for keeping the equipment ready for use, dog carrying and keeping everything running smoothly between surgery and recovery. Thankyou Beate for running an excellent recovery area, and post surgery ‘taxi’ service. We hope to collaborate with you again in the future. Thanks also to Stefan and to Martina for her assistance in preparing animals for surgery.
Huge thanks go to everyone who donated however small the contribution. Without those pennies life changing campaigns like this are just not possible. We are grateful for your support.
Last but not least we thank our hosts Amigos de Lucky for a successful well prepared and well organised campaign. It really shows the importance of team work between international groups to make a difference in animal welfare. Even after ASNI and the Pro K volunteers leave the island, the work continues. We wish Amigos de Lucky ongoing success in the Dominican Republic.
If you would like to be a part of our future international campaigns by making a donation visit http://www.animalsni.org/donate. It could not be simpler to save 100 dogs by just spaying one.
By Ruth Osborne BSc(hons), DipCABT, VN
I am always happy to return to Vatra Dornei even though it breaks my heart sometimes: Vatra Dornei people simply do not have a qualified vet in that town, only some veterinary small clinics where they could buy food, take their dogs for vaccines, chips or some basic meds…but basically no vet who can perform any kind of surgery. And this is awful! As a consequence, most of them administrate hormonal pills to their female dogs and cats or just let them have puppies and then discard of them. And, you know, those pills can cause pyometra…
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