Neutering campaigns

Posted in Neutering Campaigns |

NEUTERING CAMPAIGN – 1-10 August 2006

At the initiative of Ms. Kiia Vasko – Pro Animals Finland www.pafiry.net - during her visit here in November 2005, we decided to have a Neutering Campaign this summer. As the policy of our association is "Neuter and Adoption" we were very delighted of this idea and decided to neuter in this period the rest of the unneutered dogs from the shelter but also cats and dogs with owners for free.

We started prepairing this campaign from July as we had so many things to do. Entire month, we made all possible to spread brochures, posters, put weekly adds in the local newspapers,make regular announcements at radios and also had broadcasts at local TV stations. We bought materials for building recuperation cages and we started manufacter it, we bought three tents for putting the recuperation cages inside for keeping dogs after neutering for several days, we had to find a place to put the tent somewhere close the shelter and the surgery room and had to ask the permit of the landowner, we had to search for the necesary items needed in this campaign, but also had to settle meetings with the vicemayor and some directors from the old people houses and places for children with special needs.

As you can imagine,it was a hard period, with countless hours of work, and all this besides our jobs and the daily work from the shelter . We had also to arrange the room where we were going to neuter near the shelter, to make it all proper for surgeries. We talked with the local vet with whom we usual cooperate, to neuter in this campaign but we were also very pleased when Kiia announced us that she found a vet and an assistant from Finland who want to volunteer, and Pro Animals Finland will pay for them the travel and the accomodation.

The campaign started on 1st of August. Mr. Serban and his wife Paivi, came from Finland and on 1st he started neutering together with the local vet, dr. Popescu with whom we cooperate.

In the shelter we started working early in the morning to clean before vets were coming, in the day running and working on and on, and late in the evening, when we arrived home, we had to cook for the two employees and bring them food to the shelter, but also cook for our dogs from home who were expecting to eat wet food as usual, not carring about our hard day. Couldnt sleep much in the night, as early morning had to wake up and start all over again. Indeed, a huge work but hopefully it all deserve it.
Kiia, Sinni, Jukka and Jukka came on 3rd of August and had been very busy with helping us during this period. As we were just the 5 of us ( me, my parents and two boys workers), we didnt know what we would have done without their support during this campaing, as there were so many things to be done, in the shelter but also in all what involved the neuterings time.

Before 1st of August, we started prepairing the ield for the campaign.Things were at the beginning, the recuperation cages had to be unpacked and we were working at the tent that after a lot of hours of work in the hot sun, was ready. We decided to put only one tent and only if we needed the other to put it after.

Animal lovers started to come early morning with their pets to be neutered forf free.We collected the female who was living at the old people center, from Suseni village, that we visited also and where we intend to start the Therapy Dog programme. Later we found out that the female is called Pamela and she is loved and cared for by some of the residents of the center. Together with Pamela, there was also the male there, but we couldnt catch him that time. After we neutered Pamela we kept her in the cage from the tent for recuperation, for several days. Only after she recovered, we took her back to the center

The two vets were neutering dogs and cats as well, helped by the assistants. In the moments when there were no owners with their pets, we neutered the few unneutered dogs from the shelter.

Inside people were entering with their pets,some wanting to stay near them during surgery some dont.

As you can imagine, inside was a real "battle field". Everyone was doing something – the finnish team was doing their best in helping us – , from cleaning, keeping dogs for anesthesia, shaving them, putting them on and off the surgery table, put the earclips after neutering to staying near dogs who were waking up from anesthesia etc

After neutering, the dogs were staying in the recuperation cages. The ones that had owners were a little aggitated, not knowing what was happening with them there. Water had to be changed often and food checked.

They were soon moved in the recovery cages in the tent. Recuparation cages had to be constanly cleaned, because it was very important that dogs stay in clean places especially during this period. We were putting cartoons in the cages so dogs dont stay directly on the iron sheet so cartoons had to be changed pretty often. We had a problem also in finding cartoons, because usually people collect it from supermarkets and sell it. During cleaning, we put dogs on leash and , usually Kiia, Jukka, Sinni took them for a walk outside.

Because the cages we have built weren’t enough for all the dogs that we were keeping for recovering, Jukka and Jukka, after buying the necessary materials, started to manufacture several wounden/fenced cages. At the beginning they have worked outside, as inside it wasnt enough room, but a terrible rain came and they were all wet to skin.

Kiia’s brother, Jukka, is an electrician and came well prepaired to fix the electricity supply in the room near the shelter. Because the electricity supply was very bad and poor, this caused us a lot of problems in the past, especially in the winter.

Unfortunately during this campaign, a fight and huge effort for life, in Tg-Jiu took place a poisoning campaign. People who were coming to neuter their dogs, kept on telling us that near their blocks dogs died in pains after being poisoned and no one could do anything to save them. They also told that they have seen men who gave slice of salami to strays, and after this dogs strarted to feel worser and worser. While being in the room, helping, we received a phone calle from an animal lover informing us that there is a poor female struggling for her life in the stairs of a block. We went in a hurry, and the imagine was devastating: a poor female – with visible signs of having puppies puppies somewhere – was all wet, with her eyes wide open, with saliva running down her mouth, full of excrements, almost unconsciouss. I have tried to take her in my arms to put her into the car to take her to the two vets who were neutering at the shelter but had no luck because, being also very frightened and in terrible pains, she was trying to bite. But, I knew that in cases like this there is no time to wait, her life was depending, in this phase, on me. So, I grabbed her instantly on her neck and tried to calm her down, put her in the car and left. Her eyes broke my heart, she was starring at me, as if begging me to take away her pain The ladies who were there were crying as well as a little girl who assisted that awful images, wondering how people can be that cruel?!
We arrived at the shelter and took her into the room. Seeing the female’s condition, who was having also convulsions, we didnt think she has any chance to survive. Serban and Paivi made her perfusions and we had to wait. After some time, the female seem to calm a little and felt the need to have someone near her all the time to pet her. Also, Suzi our cat who is living in the shelter, came near the female. Serban thought us what to administrate next, in the evening saying that if she survives until morning, she has big chances to survive. God made a miracle, and thanks to Serban and Paivi, in the morning she was alive and waving her tail when she saw us. Day by day we took care of her, little by little she recovered and now she is all healthy in the shelter waiting for an owner.

During and after the campaing,the local mass-media wrote articles about all the activity we had at the shelter, about neutered dogs, about owners etc, and this is a very good thing that more and more people could find out about our activity and how important neuterings are, especially in the context of stray dogs’ overpopulation.

We want to thank so much to Pro Animals Finland for supporting us in this campaign. They did their best to make this possible,so that we can organize this Neutering Campaign but also, during their staying here ( 3th-8th of August) they worked and helped us a lot. We were more grateful then we can express in words for all their efforts and for their trust in us and our work.

Add for Neutering Campaign in local newspapers.

COSTS AND FIGURES

Pro Animals Finland supported financially this campaign and it were raised 5000 Euros specially for it. Every cent was spent entirely for starting and running this campaign, from vet’s fees, to medicines, recuperation cages, food etc. They have also paid for the accomodation of the finnish vet and nurse.

In 10 days there were neutered a number of :