El Valle Spay Neuter Clinic 2024

Well I’m back in Panama for a few weeks and it coincided with an El Valle spay/neuter clinic put on by Spay Panama. It’s not my first rodeo and it certainly isn’t Jackie’s! She’s been doing it for 18 years now and helped to start the whole thing. It’s always great to see how many people show up with their dogs and cats, waiting in a hot line for what could be hours to have their pet spayed or neutered.

A lot goes into organizing this and there are a TON of volunteers, both expats and locals. Above are the dogs we (sort of) caught the night before with the help of some other ladies. It was fairly easy because the ones we were after or noticed were in the yards of some families. So they assisted by getting them into the crates and we took them to the school where this takes place to stay overnight. A few more came in the morning.

The travelling vets come for a set fee, set up and tear down. The bus above is the one they came in on. Setup begins around 9am and they bring the tables, medicine, tools and whatever else is needed for them to get the job done!

People start lining up around 7am and get a number, pay the fee (much cheaper than going to a vet) and weigh their pet so the doctor can know how much sedative to give them. When their number is called, they go with their pet to the table for their sedative and are then taken to the floor to lie down until the prep team is ready for them.

At the station they are shaved, their bladders emptied, ears tattooed and the area disinfected. The person who prepped them then calls out “Taxi!” and two people show up and take the dog or cat either straight to a waiting vet or put them on the floor until they’re ready to go into surgery.

Among other things, Jackie and I ran around picking up sweet rolls to hand out to people waiting in line and offered up coffee. Volunteers cleaned the stations in between surgeries and eventually I helped sweep up all the fur that was being shaved off. People and pets waited very patiently and usually very quietly as well. Dogs didn’t get in fights (nor did people!). As you can imagine, most dogs were scared and confused as to what was going on.

One female dog showed up alone and everyone eyed her wondering if she needed fixin’ but it turns out Jackie had brought her in before. It was odd seeing her walk around the place the ENTIRE time (6-7 hours). Wonder what was going through her mind?

After surgery they’re taken to another spot to wake up and their humans come to pick them up. Many of these folks walked to the school, so many were seen leaving, pets in their arms, going back home. Some were given rides by the volunteers if they lived far away. The ones who helped us get the strays were also given rides.

Pizzas were donated from a local restaurant for the volunteers and Jackie had two huge platters of banana bread for people as well. We also had to, at the last minute, go find 45 lunches for the vets and techs! Well, one restaurant came through without batting and eye and had chicken, rice and beans done in an hour and 10 minutes! Now THAT’S service. That arrived as things were finally starting to come to an end so it worked out ok.

It was a long day and a successful one. Over 200 pets were brought in. The whole point is to try and reduce the amount of strays that are left to fend for themselves on the streets. It’s a never ending battle though and inevitably you see many dogs roaming daily. They’re actually some of the sweetest dogs you’ll ever meet and grateful for anything you give them (food, love, attention, a place to sleep, etc.). We are so thankful for everyone’s help, expertise and CARING. They are making a difference, one pet at a time.