From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
Another Successful Major Field Spay and Neuter Campaign on Grand Bahama !
By Humane Society of Grand Bahama
Nov 19, 2007 - 7:16:14 PM
![spayDSC02521.jpg](http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/uploads/1/spayDSC02521.jpg)
The operating area of the clinic. (Photo: Tohni Blower)
|
Clinic wrap up report,
November 18th
The final total for the five days is 265 I believe although I still have to go back through the records to be sure.
We are very pleased with this, and everything went very smoothly. The vets and technicians really enjoyed the gala night Thursday (Sylvia performance at the Regency Theatre) and I think they appreciated being recognized. I think it was good for those present who were not involved with the clinic to have a chance to meet them.
The only thing which needed improving this time was getting enough animals in. The vets and techs were so efficient they could easily have done more surgeries each day. Already several of our amazing local volunteers have offered to help with this prior to the next clinic by literally going door to door and scheduling surgeries a week or two ahead of time.
Lots of good news to report:
The missing dog from Wednesday was found on Friday! His owner came down and walked to the beach (where there had been several sightings) - 20 minutes later he appeared with a very happy dog bounding along at his side. We were overjoyed as well. Other than being a bit hungry he was just fine.
Little Laura Lee, (I have now been corrected and told her name is actually Luanne, which is what Joe Silvera named her), is now safe and sound in Boston at her new home with Dr. Deb Campbell.
Little no name half hairless potcake puppy who was at death's door when she came in Wed., is now safe and sound in Ithaca, NY with Dr. Bridget Barry, who will continue treating her and then find her the perfect home.
HSGB teenage puppy Casuarina will be on her way to Portland, Oregon to her new home with veterinary assistant Sandy Calves as soon as GBX has a morning flight out of here this week. We had her spayed at the clinic and Sandy fell in love with her. I've already talked to Sandy tonight on the phone and she can't wait to get her home. Erika and Ed will like to hear this I am sure, as this is the puppy their tour guide fished out of the Lucayan Waterway recently!
Tompkins County SPCA in Ithaca, NY, is taking four other of our dogs as soon as we can send them. Bridget is the medical director of this shelter. See their website at
www.spcaonline.com/nokill.htm
.
BideAWee Home Association, where Dr. Robin is chief of veterinary medicine and V.P., is going to take 20-25 of our puppies as soon as we can send them.
www.bideawee.org
Dr. Karen Lovino has told me to let her know anytime we have an animal that requires advanced medical care, surgery, etc, and the clinic where she works will treat them, and then find them a forever home.
Linda and Eric Carlson, of Jupiter, Florida, who came over for the weekend and the fundraiser are adopting our office pup, Smoochie! They already have one potcake named Pepper, and two other rescue dogs. After spending their entire Friday at the shelter caring for puppies, handing out treats and toys and even picking ticks off of puppies, they fell in love with little Smoochie and her famous grins.
Vet tech Stephanie Neufeld of NYC, may adopt our shelter mama cat whose eye had to be removed Friday while she was being spayed, due to a pre-existing infection/congenital condition.
And the seven pups who came in the first day of the clinic are finally going to LuvAPet in Florida tomorrow. If GBX doesn't have a flight, Debbie Shields' husband Scott will fly over to get them in his plane.
So we have lots of happy endings in addition to another very successful clinic!
I will be writing thank yous all week, but for now, those of you who helped, please know that each and every one of you played an important part in this success and we are very grateful.
Very soon I hope to be announcing plans for our next clinic, already tentatively scheduled for the third week in February!
Heartfelt thanks again to everyone who contributed to this effort,
Bless you all,
Tip
![SpayDSC02515.jpg](http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/uploads/1/SpayDSC02515.jpg)
Many local volunteers came out to lend a hand (Photo Robbin Whachell)
|
Nov. 14th, Wednesday (Day 3)
Clinic update
61 animals sterilized today!
Including over 25 from West End that we were able to pick up in one trip, thanks to our new monster bus so kindly recently donated by Grand Bahama Nature Tours (Erika and Ed Gates).
It has been invaluable already.
We were able to move all our equipment and supplies to Pinders Point in one trip instead of an all day effort with multiple small vehicles.
And moving it back out will also be a breeze.
While we had a few fractious animals today, it was not the rodeo it was yesterday; everyone was happy about that.
We had lots more cats today.
I'll have a complete breakdown at the end of the clinic as to cats, dogs, males, females etc for those of you interested in those statistics.
We also had more animals brought in by their owners which is heartening.
We feel the Grand Bahama community at large is starting to realize and appreciate the importance and benefits of sterilization.
Great news too, our little Laura Lee survived the night, and is actually starting to get a bit sassy!
She also seems to be very smart; she yips like crazy to get out of her crate to go to the bathroom.
And also when she wants to be cuddled, she is really enjoying that too.
She's not out of the woods yet but every day she hangs on and improves is a good sign.
Thanks to Nicola Bowe of Freeport Animal Care who is caring for her tonight.
Dr. Deb says if she is this good tomorrow, she can remove her catheter, so please say a little prayer tonight for this tiny puppy.
The only bad news is that we need everyone coming out tomorrow to keep their eyes peeled for a large, tall brown and white male bulldog/mastiff mix, who escaped tonight as we were transferring crates to the bus for transport home.
It was a complete accident and we searched and searched until it got too dark and the other animals had to be gotten home.
We have several of our folks in Pinders Point keeping an eye out tonight and we hope to find him at the clinic in the morning.
He is friendly but a bit shy.
If you think you see him on your way in please call my cell immediately 727-2477 and try to keep your eyes on him til one of us can get there.
Thanks to all of you who once again made today so successful and helped it run so smoothly.
Tip
![spayDSC02513.jpg](http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/uploads/1/spayDSC02513.jpg)
(Photo: Tohni Blower)
|
*******************************************************************
Nov. 13, Tuesday (Day 2)
Clinic Report
by Tip Burrows
60 animals sterilized today.
We could have done more but we had at least a dozen nervous, fractious dogs and cats which required extra careful handling and a lot more time.
We are extremely happy with this number, however, considering the circumstances!
We had an inordinate amount of huge happy big macho dogs today which makes us very happy.
It is traditionally hard for us to get pet owners to sterilize these male dogs.
The funny thing is for the most part the huge dogs were easier to handle on the whole!
We will remember fondly the extremely large black lab named Gorilla.
The also extremely large American Bulldog/mastiff cross named Ringo.
Stella, the large gorgeous female black lab.
We had several Rottweilers and German Shepherds and we are very grateful to their owners for realizing the importance and benefits of spay/neuter for these pets.
Our little Laura Lee got lots more good care today including blood transfusions, but her condition is still critical.
We are all pulling for her.
Thanks to HSGB volunteer Ashley Murphy who took her home tonight to give her the TLC she needs.
If she makes it through the night she has a chance.
If she doesn't make it, at least this tiny little pup will have known a lot of love the last two days.
If she makes it I firmly believe that equally as important as the medical care is the love she is getting.
Especially from little Joe Silvera who met her yesterday and spent hours cuddling her. He made his mom bring him back today; she said he couldn't stop talking about her. He spent several hours today with her, and helped the vet who is caring for her.
He is very good and kind with her and I believe this little boy's love may just tip the scale in her favour.
At least that's my hope.
Our volunteer vets and techs are amazing, they take everything in stride and handle it all with consummate professionalism. There really is no adequate way to thank them for the sacrifices they have made to be here and work so hard day after day.
There are once again way too many people to thank here, you all know what you have done and please know how very much it is appreciated and how critical every single person has been to our success thus far.
I am overwhelmed and overcome at your kindness, generosity and compassion.
Tip
***************************************************************************************
Monday,
November 12th Report of Spay/Neuter Clinic by Tip Burrows
51 animals sterilized!
7 gorgeous 5 week old puppies surrendered to HSGB; they are going to LuvAPet in Royal Palm Beach Thursday, who have been on "standby" for this very eventuality. Had we not been
doing this clinic in Pinders Point, we likely would never have seen them and who knows what would have happened to them.
1 puppy we're hoping to have surrendered, Laura Lee is currently in foster care as she only weighs 1 lb and needed some extra TLC and medicine which she is now getting.
Reverend Ambrose, the priest at the Church of the Good Shepherd, came in this morning and did a blessing of the animals for us; she also blessed and prayed for all us humans who are caring for them, it was wonderful and very moving. She and Ann Penn, the church secretary, have been great.
We have fine-tuned both the medical and logistical aspects since January, and made some small but critical changes that seem to have made a huge difference already. Our numbers should increase daily all week.
We also have the luxury of having lots more steady, local volunteers who were
amazing today. That is not to say we can't use more help, however! The more help we have the faster and smoother it goes.
There is just no way to adequately describe the dedication of these vets, techs and local volunteers, and the tender care these animals are receiving, nor the massive undertaking that it is.
I want to recognize Ellen Kohn of our partner, The Kohn Foundation in Denver, Colorado. Ellen and I and Robin have spent the last three months in almost constant communication regarding this clinic and especially our inventory. Ellen was able to somehow make sense of the dozens of emails and inventory lists which culminated in her seamless ordering of $13,000 worth of drugs, supplies and equipment (having spent more countless hours procuring the best prices). This clinic project would not be happening without Ellen's constant support in so many ways.
![SpayDSC02501.jpg](http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/uploads/1/SpayDSC02501.jpg)
Photo: Tohni Blower
|
********************************************************************************************
The Humane Society of Grand Bahama (HSGB), in partnership with The Kohn Foundation’s (TKF) Bahamian Animal Rescue Committee (B.A.R.C.) is pleased to announce its next major field spay and neuter clinic to be held November 12-16, 2007, in Pinders Point.
Thanks to the generosity of The Church of the Good Shepherd, the clinic will be held at their parish hall.
The goal is to sterilize at least 250 dogs and cats during the five days of surgeries.
The surgeries will be free to pet owners, and the clinic will again include an important educational initiative.
The project, called BARC-ANEW (Bahamian Animal Rescue Committee - Animal Neutering Education & Welfare) will include between 3 and 5 similar clinics in various locations on
Grand Bahama over the next three years.
So far this year this project has allowed us to sterilize 330 animals in addition to the 325 surgeries done by
Grand Bahama vets through our ongoing voucher program.
The goal is to sterilize as many owned animals as possible, while simultaneously providing educational opportunities and initiatives to promote responsible pet ownership and compassion for all animals.
An impressive team has volunteered once again.
HSGB Board Member and local veterinarian Dr. Owen Hanna is providing local support, consultation and assistance, to the seven
U.S. veterinarians, and nine experienced
U.S. veterinary technicians and assistants, who have graciously agreed to donate a week of their time and expertise to help alleviate the serious pet over-population problem on
Grand Bahama.
![spayDSC02504.jpg](http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/uploads/1/spayDSC02504.jpg)
Photo: Tohni Blower
|
We welcome back again
Dr. Robin Brennen, of
New York City, team leader for this clinic, Dr. Leo Egar of
Phoenix,
Arizona, and Dr. Bridget Barry, of
Ithaca,
New York.
Dr. Corinna Barry, of
Rhode Island, will also be participating in this clinic.
Dr. Barry was instrumental in organizing and operating the HSGB’s Distemper Vaccination campaign in 2006, working tirelessly for over six weeks.
Funding for this upcoming clinic is being partially provided by The Pegasus Foundation (
www.pegasusfoundation.org
) and further partial funding is being provided by the anonymous donor who kindly funded the January clinic.
We are still facing a shortfall for this clinic and would appreciate the support of local companies and individuals.
Fundraising for these clinics is ongoing, and it is hoped that the local community, who benefit directly from this project, will participate and contribute.
Sterilization and education programs are, in tandem with an effective animal control program, the only proven way to alleviate a serious over-population problem.
Imagine an island with no roaming animals, with healthy, happy pets and a citizenry concerned about animal welfare.
Grand Bahama could promote itself as one of few animal friendly
Caribbean islands; the positive impact on tourism alone could be tremendous and garner international recognition.
Pets which are spayed and neutered are healthier, less inclined to roam or fight, and live longer, happier lives.
Pet owners who are responsible and spay and neuter their pets are helping to reduce the overall problem, and show a genuine concern for their pets and their neighbors.
Residents, please contact the Humane Society at 352-2477 to make appointments for your pets to receive free sterilization during the BARC-ANEW spay and neuter clinic.
If you are not able to bring your pets to the clinic site at The Church of the Good Shepherd, the HSGB can make arrangements to pick them up and bring them home again.
Local volunteers are still needed to assist in many areas, please contact the HSGB for more details.
School administrators, teachers, civic groups and interested individuals are welcome to contact HSGB and make arrangements to visit the clinic for educational tours.
![SpayDSC02494.jpg](http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/uploads/1/SpayDSC02494.jpg)
Photo: Tohni Blower
|
© Copyright 2007 by thebahamasweekly.com -