Wed. 16 Mar
contacted more businesses in the morning ... i'm getting a good response from people. of course, a lot of the time the owner/manager is not there, so i'll have to return again and again to try to catch em.
at 1pm Marti, Patricia, and i met, to catch a ride to the World Vet Clinic. there were dogs and other people in the truck, so we rode in the back.
World Vets had a nice set up.
it was a hot sunny day, so they had some shade areas for the dogs and also water so you could keep them cool. this big guy ...the dog, ....was getting hosed down ...
we were registering people/dogs. a girl brought in a 'neighborhood dog' to be spayed, that had just had puppies 5 weeks ago. she also brought in the 8 puppies. OMG. they were whining a little, so i don't have to tell you what i did. eventually they got hungry, but mom was in surgery/recovery. we weren't sure if they could eat, so one of the techs fixed some 'gruel' ..... oh they could eat alright ... it was so cute ...
the set up here was amazing. 4 operating tables, with 2 vets/techs at each table. and they were turning them around in amazing time!
after they were sedated, they were straped to the table .... my sick sense of humor ... i just had to take this photo.
after surgery, the dogs were taken to the Recovery Room, ... well .... to recover.
and later released, for their owners to take them home, .... however they could.
we were pretty successful in talking some people into having their dogs spayed/neutered; even when that was not their intention when they arrived. i didn't realize that dogs could get STDs (sexually-transmitted-diseases), same as humans. we had pretty gross pictures of what it could look like. kind of 'scare tactics' to convince people that this was the right thing to do. mostly it worked. i talked one guy into having his dog, and 4 puppies 'fixed'. they were only about 8 weeks old, but the vet came out and checked them, and said she could do the 3 males, but females take longer to develop and could not be done this early. so we got them tagged and waited their turn. they sure were cute, all packed in this crate, fat, happy, and content. 4 puppies in here, the WHITE one is the female, ... her name is Gringa :)
unfortunately, before it was their turn, he changed his mind. i worked really hard with him, he only spoke Spanish, but a younger friend was helping me. i tried and tried with the STD logic and told him that he couldn't put a condom on his dog. he thought that was pretty funny, but i couldn't get him to change his mind. so, saddly, the tags came off the puppies and his dog. they sure were cute !
late in the afternoon, we were told that an emergency Caesarian section was coming in. the mom had already given birth to 2 still born puppies. i missed the operation, but took photos of these girls 'working' on the 4 puppies they delivered. they were not responding and they were VIGOROUSLY rubbing them to stimulate them. the vet said, 'they are rubbery now, and you can't hurt them, really rub them' ... and they did.
i got to do some rubbing as one of the vet/techs were tying and cutting the umbilical cord off :)
they gave them some injections as well, and just kept rubbing. eventually you'd hear a tiny little squeek, and everyone would cheer! it was determined that 3 of them would be ok. they were still hopeful on the 4th one, but it was struggling. here it was sucking on Dr. Bo's finger and he said he was strong. so, i'm hoping he's ok.
earlier, a young girl came in with a tiny dog wrapped in a towel, an unruly little 4yr old, and 2 other dogs. the tiny dog looked to be in horrible condition. so quiet, sad, and despondent looking. we saw her sit the little boy in a chair and plop the puppy in his lap, only to have the little boy stand up, drop the dog, and then fall on the dog!!!!!! Philia speaks Spanish and conversed with the girl, in what Marti called "Puerto Rican Machine Gun Spanish" ... whewwwwww, ... you could tell she was admonishing her. i would NOT want Philia mad at me! she is all business when it comes to animal cruelity! it's a long sad story; but eventually Philia took the little dog to have it checked out, and when she returned, the girl, boy, and dogs were all gone. ...she just abandoned the little one. which was the best thing that could have happened. Patricia was holding the little one ... such a defeated look this poor puppy had on her face.
she set her down on a table to walk, several times. but each time, she took one step, and then kind of just sat/fell on her butt and couldn't move. she was dehydrated, malnurished, obviously abused, and looked like she just wanted to die. ... i guess the little boy threw her down the stairs. ....it was so sad. the vets thought that probably she had a broken pelvis and also had sores all over her body. just look at how she has her head hanging down :(
she got some meds, fluids, special food, and Philia offered to foster her until she could find her a good home.
what a day ... so many emotions! we finally left around 6pm. missed the sunset tonight, but went to Sundowner for a drink and to talk about the day.
it was cloudy, so there was no sunset, and there wasn't going to be a Super Moon to snorkel under; .... but Patricia and i still wanted to do a night snorkel ... no one else did ... so we got ready and went out. aren't we something ?
visibility wasn't great, but the air and water were warm and we enjoyed ourselves. i tried to take photos, but night underwater photography is tricky because you have to use a flash,,, ... and all the particles floating around in the water pick up the light of the flash. but i tried anyway, with not so good results ...
lots of HUGE lobsters out at night.
a sleepy-eyed Parrotfish, .... sleeping ... that's what they do at night.
and this ... i think it is a Broadbanded Eel ...my story, and i'm stickin to it :)
and a Moral Eel.
but we really had fun, finished our snorkel, showered, and had great spring rolls that Marti made, and wonderful dinner with veggie rice, shrimps, and fresh pasta that Philia made that morning!
... and finished it off with some tequila that Ron bought, ...just a little ....
