REGULO SANCHEZ GYM
Talamanca, Arraiján
Spay/Panama sterilized animal No. 33,722th, of which 3,072 are from Arraijan area on Sunday, June 12, 2011.
From early hours, people arrived with their pets and rescued stray animals.
It was a campaign full of enthusiasm and a small sample that there are many citizens that have a genuine concern for the welfare of their animals and of the homeless animals. This shows that little by little our society is more aware of these issues.
We would like to call the attention on a matter that is not much mentioned "Are shelters a real solution to prevent animal cruelty and more homeless animals? The shelters do an incredible work for the animals, however, a shelter tries to solve the problem of the over population of dogs and cats with a band-aid, because it is not a plan with medium or long range impact. It must be clear that we are not downgrading the titanic work the shelter does to care for their animals, but in addition to the emotional drain for the people that work at the shelter, it also is a high investment of financial resources.
Lets say it costs the shelter $1 to keep an animal per day. So if a shelter has 100 animals, it adds to $100 per day (for food, water, some medication, staff to clean, etc.) The $100 a day, adds to $36,000 per year. The animals are prisoners and many times, only the strongest and dominants are the ones that eat. Based on this theory, many international organizations are of the opinion that the sterilized dogs and cats be returned to their area to be free, they know where to get food and where to rest. Unfortunately, stray animals have an average life of +/-3 years. But they will be free and in many cases better off that those with homes that are not cared properly or live permanently chained.
Going back to the statistics, with the $36,000 it takes to keep 100 animals caged, it could be used to sterilize 1,440 animals at a cost of $25 per animal. THIS WOULD HAVE AVOIDED MORE THAN 96 MILLION MORE KITTENS AND PUPPIES TO BE BORN in the next 6 years WITHOUT A SECURED HOME. There are too many puppies and kittens and not enough good homes.
These numbers lead unquestionably to the conclusion that the model of sterilizations have more impact as a method to prevent more abandoned and homeless animals. Lets look for solutions with a definite and positive impact to solve the number of homeless animals.
You may be thinking, well if the animals are left on the streets and are not picked up, lets vaccinate them against parvo and distemper....Vaccines?
If you vaccinate a puppy and do not apply the booster, YOU HAVE JUST DUMPED THE COST OF THE FIRST VACCINE because the puppy remains unprotected. The vaccine campaigns are of no use if there is no control or follow-up with the boosters for puppies.
These DO believe in the Model of Sterilizations:
Thank you Claudia and her son Daniel for helping with the register
Thank you Dr. Andres, Dr. Augusto and Dr. Gloria
Thank you Yelitsa, Jorge, Gisselle & Veronica from the Vet School of the University of Panama, Alberto, Rebeca, Daniel, Osvaldo, Dioselina, Serafin, Sol, Noemi, Elisa, Leanne Moore of UC Davis, Allyson Chase of Virginia Tech & Lauren Davis of Christopher Newport University
The problem is the offsprings with no control of pets NOT STERILIZED. A dog can have two litters a year and a cat can have more than 3 litters a year. WHAT IS THE GUARDIAN OF LOW INCOME TO DO? The guardian loves his/her dog and cat, but simply can not afford to pay the sterilization service at a veterinary clinic; and much less keep all the litters of 6 puppies and 4 kittens; so the kittens and puppies are given to any passbyer and most of them will end on the streets. We saw several cases of dogs with TRANSMISSIBLE VENEREAL TUMOR (TVT), which can be avoided with the sterilization.
Thank you for supporting the sterilization campaigns for a REAL SOLUTION at medium and long range. Lets put a stop to the misery of abandoned animals.
Please help me, I do not want my children to end up abandoned on the streets. Do a click here to find out how you can help me http://www.spaypanamasanimals.com/Sponsor-Donate-now.html
