How Your Donation Is Put To Work ... and the bonus!

You may have asked....

"What do they do in Havana?"

 It all begins with a loving caregiver or a colony keeper.

One who brings their cat to our campaña for sterilization.

(We do dogs too!)

Then we get to work ...

REGISTRATION

CLINICAL EXAM

ANAESTHESIA /SEDATION

PRE-OPERATIVE PREPARATION

SURGERY

 RECOVERY

\

DISCHARGE WITH POST OPERATIVE INSTRUCTION

...and a consult with the surgeon.

That's what we do...

.. and we need you.

Your donation of $30 sponsors a spay.

And now the bonus.

That one spay over time can prevent over 20,000 births.

In February we sterilized 156 cats.

What a great return on a small investment.

$30 = 20,736

They also come to us by the box load.

$30 sponsors a spay...

 box loads vary!

Chao 2017

September found us back at our Havana campaña home located at Quinta de Los Molinos

Set up days can be a bit of bore.

But at the Spanky Project we aim to make them as pleasant as possible.

Here Audrey, Spanky Project USA President, provides cheese and cracker service.

.. and hosts a little "fashion show".

After set up we were down to the serious business of getting to our diner spot.

The next day it was down to business.

The campaña was opened with greetings by

Martha Oneida Pérez Cortés

Presidenta

Sociedad PATRIMONIO, COMUNIDAD Y MEDIO AMBIENTE

SPCMA are our coordinating Cuban structure.

All patients are pre-registered and given time slots for their surgery.

There is always a group of early arrivers to process once the gates are opened.

 A big thank you goes to Blandine Jochem.

Coming to us from France via Colorado she was one of our international team.

She worked the registration desk with Justo...

... and also did spanish translation for us.

Including ...

...translations during interviews with Cuban media.

The Spanky Project is so much more than just a 

spay/neuter machine.

Our campañas are a place for education, training and investigation.

Indira Castillo Iglesias first joined our campañas in 2016 as a veterinary student.

This campaña Dra. Indira Castillo joined our team as a surgeon.

Dr.Viacheslav Eduardovich Zenkov holds an "Ask the Vet" session.

During campañas we offer caregivers informative sessions on a variety of pet related topics.

Doctors Anaeli Morales and Julio Martin, 

from the University of Havana, 

take blood samples from the cats in our campaña.

They are investigating blood borne diseases in Cuban cats.

Our campañas have come a long way since the kitchen tables and garages of 2003.

Our surgical protocols are second to none.

Our campaña weeks usually end with a free mass deparasitiztion event.

They show up early for a free deparasization and rabies vaccine.

The weather was on the rainy side so moved in doors.

Dra.Marina Galindo Chenard (all smiles) also worked with us as a student.

This campaña she was back as a veterinarian.

As was Dr.Ernesto

And once the last patient, for the week, was served it was off to the wrap party.

Our second mass campaña for 2017 was in the books

We had 20 veterinarians work on the campaña.

10 from Havana

4 from Mantanzas

1 Cuban veterinarian now residing in Qatar

1 each from Turkey and the Netherlands

34 veterinary students

4 veterinary technicians

5 translators

7 volunteers

Our total sterilizations for the campaña totalled 207

35 San Jose de las Lajas

172 Havana

Kisses and best wishes to all those who supported the work in Cuba

Once the campañas are over and I take that last walk through Habana Vieja I reflect on the week and what was... and at the same time planning for the campaña is on my mind.

And as always I do Camila Cabello one better... my whole heart is in "Havana-oh na na".

2017 by the numbers…

Sterilizations
February World Spay Day Week  283

May Mini- Campaña                   15
August Mini- Campaña               15

October Mass Campaña

 San Jose de las Lajas 35
Havana                                       172
———

520 

We average our costs at $30 per sterilization

2017 = $15,600

For 2018 our goal is 750 sterilization.

2018 = $22,500

Your contribution is vital to our work

Help Cubans help their animals.
The next generation of veterinarians are ready.

Sponsor a spay/neuter

Tax receipts are issued in the USA and Canada.

Donate in the USA

in Canada 

and around the world

WSD 2016 The Clinic Days

Our World Spay Day 2016 Week Campaña in Havana wrapped up Friday February 26. 

In five days we sterilizations 248 dogs and cats.

On Saturday our mass deparasitization event treated 348. 

Rabies vaccine was administered to all that needed the shot.

 Each of our campañas opens with introductions and orientations.

 Clinic protocols are also outlined.

 Casa Calderone's amphitheatre was the ideal location for our morning meetings.

Veterinary Students are the future for Cuba's animals. 

It is an honour for us to be a small part of crafting that future.

 Dr.Raymond Donavan, from Trinidad & Tobago, spends some time greeting at registration.

Dr.(Russo)Viacheslav Eduardovich Zenkov and Spanky Project's Director of Veterinary Medicine Dr.Michael Belovich guide students through the "sedation and induction" department.

It is always great to have these exchanges of mutual support

Dr.Russo and his team do great work in the province of Matanzas.

We always welcome them to our campañas in Havana.

Our surgical suite had four tables.

For the most part a Cuban Vet and one of our International Team 

members would work together.

Here Dr.Ramond shares some of his "fancy knots" with Dra.Rocio.

Humane traps ready to be deployed.

 Since 2006 the Spanky Project has worked under the umbrella of the Consejo Cientifico Veterinario de Cuba (CCVC). The veterinary council is a Cuban NGO created in 1908.  President of the CCVC, Dra.Beatriz Amaro came by for a visit.

Dra.Nana (in blue) is the Queen of Recovery.

The students love this stop on their rotation.

Despite several efforts to channel her to another department she refuses to leave her "realm".

Dr.Fernado takes some time out to administer some holistic therapy Dra.Nora.

Nora is the Institute of Veterinary Medicine's Director for the City of Havana.

We are grateful to the IMV for the trust they place in us and the support they give us in our work.

In addition to the sterilizations we do hold consultations

 on any concerns caregivers have with their pets

As we begin the day with a group meeting so do we end the day.

The head of each department gives a summary of their day.

The good ... the bad ... the ugly.

We want to hear it all and improve day by day. 

Dr.Leyssan and, final year Veterinary Student , Ernesto 

bottle feed some kittens at the end of the day.

All the hard work all the time and all the expense that goes into making these campañas a reality has a big payoff for me in the simplest of ways.

One day I was out of the clinic for a couple of hour to attend a meeting.

Upon my return I was to that two ladies wanted to meet me.

Their pets had been released earlier from surgery but they stuck around because the wanted to meet "el Jefe" (the boss).

Through a translator they expressed their gratitude and thanks for 

the opportunity and great work are doing.

I also had a gentleman that came up to me with a gift.

He thanked me and gave me a package of cigarettes.

"Gracias señor but I do not smoke"

He paused and said, "take them.... maybe you will start again".

We had a good laugh!!!!

The final event of our officlal program was a mass deparasitization and rabies clinic.

This was held in the streets of Habana Vieja.

Thank you to the Cuban structure known as Zoonosis. 

They provided the rabies vaccine for the whole week.

The last order of business for WSD 2016 Week was the wrap party.

We gathered at the Hotel Conde de Villanueva in the heart of Habana Vieja.

 Looking down on our group I was very moved.

Moved by, how out of the love for a little dog the dream of  project has become a reality.

Thankful for those that have joined us on our path.

The Spanky Project has come a long way since it's beginnings in 2003.

Gracias a todos!

I will leave you with these few minutes from our WSD2016 wrap party.