Vets prevent the birth of an astonishing 80,000 unwanted dogs on Sal!

By neutering a total of 206 female dogs in Santa Maria & Palmeira (& 436 in total) the birth of an incredible number of dogs destined to live on the streets of Sal have been prevented.

Over ten days (7 in Santa Maria and 3 in Palmeira), the veterinary team from Germany performed an amazing 510 operations.  74 of those were the removal of painful hernias, cancerous tumours and amputations and the remainder were sterilisations.

	Santa Maria 14-21 Jan	Palmeira 22-24 Jan	Total
Male dogs	128	41	169
Female dogs	136	70	206
Male cats	23	6	29
Female cats	29	3	32
Total	316	120	436

So how does that work out to 80,000 prevented dog births?

Well, if you take the original 206 females and assume that they have two litters of 8 puppies each but that only 70% survive that is 2,307 born in the first year.  Of those 50% are female and they will also have two litters of 8 puppies of which 70% survive, so that is another 15,228.  Of those 50% are female.  They, plus the females from years one and two will have 16 more puppies each of which 70% survive and between them in year 3 they will birth to a truly remarkable 62,558 more puppies.  Put it all together and you have an exhausting ....

Puppies born & survive year 1	2,307
Puppies born & survive year 2	15,228
Puppies born & survive year 3	62,558
	80,093

But what it really adds up to is an incredible job done not only by the vets but by all the dedicated volunteers as well.  Thanks also to all the wonderful people who wanted to improve the lives of their animals and who waited patiently, sometimes all day, adding to the indescribable atmosphere of part veterinarian surgery, part carnival!

Thomas & Nicky, licensed to spray

It costs €15,000 to castrate this many animals and the funding was all raised by one amazing person, Monika, who not only did that, but who worked tirelessly during the clinic.

Thanks also go the people who made a donation either in person or through the internet, we raised €362 here in Sal and €426 on the internet.   These much needed funds will help to pay the cost of expenses such as the rental of the premises for the clinic, volunteer tshirts, banners and signs, boxes for transporting and separating the animals and miscellaneous medical supplies that were bought during the clinic.

The main objective for running this clinic and with luck, the next one, is to reduce the number of dogs in Sal.  We saw the strong affection that people here have for their animals and everyone agrees that fewer, properly cared for dogs and cats benefits not only the animals themselves but the people on this island as well.

Events were held in schools to teach children how to care for  animals.