Restocking The Cupboards

All Canadian flights and vacation packages to Cuba are suspended indefinitely by major carriers like Air Canada, Air Transat, Sunwing Vacations and WestJet.

Our February flight was canceled so we could not deliver supplies from Canada.

We like to keep supplies stocked in Cuban for one campaña forward. But, with the cancelled flight and a very successful campaña of 816, in February, the cupboards were bare.

 Our preferred option for traveling through a third country was Panama.

We have already consulted with Panamanian Consulate.

Consulted regarding the passage through Panama with our anaesthesia drugs and medications.

We flew over Cuba to Panama City ... the back to Havana.

It was a 12 hour journey

This is the Proforma invoice for the medications drugs.

Enough for 1200 spay/neuters 

$11,359.63

We also delivered medications.

Enough for 1200 spay/neuters 

$11,231.29

In addition to the anaesthesia and medications 

we delivered surgical supplies 

amounting to 

$3556.66

So in all, we traveled with five duffle bags filled with essential for our next campaña.

That was a  $26,147.58 delivery ....

with more to be delivered when we fly October 30.

Oh!

We also obtained permits in order to ship liquids we use to maintain

 a high standard of sterility in our surgical theatre.

The liquids themselves only amounted to $501.38

But when we add the special packaging and air cargo the total is...

CAD $3,243.40

After our 12 hour journey, the next day we delivered the medications and supplies to

Consultoria Veterinaria Spanky

Visit on Instagram

As required by Canadian authorities Dr.Leyssan,

our Lead Cuban Veterinarian, 

accounts for and signs for the delivery.

Dr.Michael Belovich, our Veterinary Medical Director 

and owner of Yonge Street Animal Hospital, 

along with Dr.Leyssan go through the delivery item by item.

Dr.Leyssan and Alejandro Palmarola, 

President of Quinta de los Molinos, 

confirm the Pavilion's availability. 

Quinta de Los Molinos is our Home in Havana  

So what does that all add up to... 

We are good to go for a November campaña.

Havana is waiting for us! 

Here are some, translated, comments once we announced the upcoming Campaña

Great!!! They spayed my kitten last year and it went super well! 

This year I will take my little one with them! What great news

-Janet Guerra Teijero

                 That’s great!! We animal welfare volunteers are already organising the rescue 

so we can take in as many animals as possible – the streets are full.

- Elizabeth Marela Cardoso Perez

PLEASE!

Help Cubans help their animals

For those in Canada and the World 

you can give with your credit card

Instant tax charitable receipt will be issued.

Interac e-Transfers

can be sent to

donations@spankyproject.org

if you would like a Canadian Charitable tax receipt

 include your name and address.

By Cheque payable to 

"Spanky Project"

172 Main St.

Suite 301

Picton ON K0K 2T0

You can donate Aeroplan points

For our supporters in the USA donate through

Spanky Project USA

If you would like a Charitable tax receipt include your name and address.

Feliz Día del Trabajador de la Veterinaria 2026

March 24 is Veterinary Worker's Day in Cuba.

Greetings, congratulations and best wishes to the over 12,000 doctors and technicians in Cuba.

Let's include all clerks, janitors, graduates, economists, .... EVERYONE

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Cuba currently has five faculties of Veterinary Medicine and 14 schools of middle-level studies, in which more than seven thousand specialists dedicated to the care and protection of animal health have graduated.

We have come to know and work with many of them.

We thank them all for their hard work, love and dedication.

We are now in our 23th year of helping Cubans help their animals.

Deparasitiation event 2025

In our first campaña of 2026 we set a record.

816

2003-2026 and beyond.

Spanky Project celebrates 23 años

¡Felicidades!

ONE LOVE 

For those in Canada and the World you can give with your credit card

Instant tax charitable receipt will be issued.

Interac e-Transfers

can be sent to

donations@spankyproject.org

if you would like a Canadian Charitable tax receipt include your name and address.

By Cheque payable to 

"Spanky Project"

172 Main St.

Suite 301

Picton ON K0K 2T0

For our supporters in the USA donate through

Spanky Project USA

If you would like a Charitable tax receipt include your name and address.

Havana Campaña February 2026

In case you missed it... here is our

Pre Campaña Blog post

Our Havana February 2026 was a great success.

Even with all the complications it was a record breaker in support of

Cubans Helping Their Animals.

We received over 2000 requests for appointments.

We confirmed 540 spaces

Registration

Clinical Exam

Surgical Prep

Surgery

Instrument Cleaning and Sterilization

The Recovery Department gets creative awaiting their first patient.

Then it's all business.

With a gas crisis and unusually cold weather we had a slow start to our campaña.

Our first day saw many not show up for their "reservation".

82

69 Cats 13 dogs

In following days we invited people to arrive and wait for open spaces due to no shows.

Several Protectors took this opportunity to sterilize street dogs and colony cats.

Some came multiple days with multiple cats/dogs.

Our Havana February Campañas always coincide with

World Spay Day

WSD was celebrated the last Tuesday in February

 94

69 Cats 25 Dogs

WSD Family Photo

We set two daily records.

Day 4 was a Record Day (Previous in May 2025 136)

Day 4 - 143

"When the Spanky Project began holding mass sterilization campaigns, we learned that, despite the fact that more than 50% of veterinarians in Cuba are female, very few were surgeons. We also learned that the reason for this is because in Cuba, veterinary surgery is considered “men’s work”.

We set out to change that by offering female vet students and veterinarians the opportunity to observe surgery, ask questions and get training if they wanted it.

Last March, Dr. Amanda Bruce, of Austin, TX, came and taught a course in surgery for female vets, which included a small spay / neuter event, which allowed each student to work one one, performing a sterilization

Our record for the number of surgeries performed in one day was 135 with a team of predominantly male surgeons."

That record was broken with a final number of 

143 surgeries 

by a team of four women and three men!

The male surgeons rotated in and out, while the female surgeons worked at their tables all day. GIRL POWER!

The entire team that worked in all areas of the record-breaking campaign:

health checks, anesthesia, preparation, surgery, and recovery.

THEN!

Day 5 another daily record 221!

The Cuban government's ministry Salud Publica

 provided us with 1000 doses of Rabies Vaccine.

GRACIAS!

To keep our motors running..

Dr.Yoe aka Tarzan keeps us caffeinated.

On our social media accounts we received many wonderful comments..

Quiero agradecer con todo mí corazón, que fuí testigo hoy de la excelencia y profesionalismo

médico de ese equipo, mí gatica mía #73 fué esterilizada. Felicitaciones y mí agradecimiento eterno. Gracias, gracias y muchas gracias. Dios los bendiga siempre a todos por la maravillosa labor que realizan. 

-Juanito Heredia Martínez

Translations

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for witnessing the excellence and professionalism of this team today.

My cat #73 was spayed. Congratulations and my eternal gratitude. Thank you, thank you, and thank you so much. May God bless you all for the wonderful work you do.

-Juanito Heredia Martínez

Really there are no words to thank such an effort made in this campaign, once again the collective grew in the face of current adversity, it is an immense challenge to attend to patients, owners of the little animals, protectors and caregivers.

On behalf of our pets "Many Thanks"

Health to your hands, nobility of heart and soul

-Marlen Hernández

A titanic task, performed by WONDERFUL people!!!!

- Ines Valle

My respects to this great sacrificed and selfless team. Work like this in the midst of the adversity we Cubans face is heroic. Thank you for so much.

- Verónica Bullaín

They will always be remembered by the Cuban people.

- Milaidy Perez

Continuing education is always a part of our campañas

We had a very complicated surgical case which was performed by Dr. Amanda from Austin, Texas. 

The other veterinarians gathered around the surgical table to learn how to perform a surgery involving a tumor.

These Spanky team members have been working together since February 2016.          

We are family

Day 4 143 Record Day (Previous in May 2025 136)

Day 4 - 143

103 Cats 40 dogs

The entire team that worked in all areas of the record-breaking campaign: health checks, anesthesia, preparation, surgery, and recovery.

We would be lying if we did not admit to always hoping to do a few more surgeries than the 

campaign before. Our last campaign was May of 2025 and we sterilized a record 640 animals. 

Given the conditions the Cuban people are facing (lack of electricity and fuel), we had accepted that the turnout would be lower this time. But in fact, it was exactly the opposite and we completed a record 816 surgeries! 

Read that again! Eight hundred sixteen. 

And at the end.. there was cake.

It was our best week ever.

Truly worth celebrating.

Won't you please join us to make the next even more successful.

Help us help more Cubans to help their animals.

For those in Canada and the World you can give with your credit card

click Donate Now

Instant tax charitable receipt will be issued.

Interac e-Transfers

can be sent to

donations@spankyproject.org

if you would like a Canadian Charitable tax receipt include your name and address.

By Cheque payable to 

"Spanky Project"

172 Main St.

Suite 301

Picton ON K0K 2T0

For our supporters in the USA donate through

Spanky Project USA

If you would like a Charitable tax receipt include your name and address.