NEWS Presenting the “Golden Paw Award” THE “GOLDEN PAW AWARD” is presented twice a year by our organization to honor local people in our community for their compassion and service toward animals. On June 16th, 2010 the award was presented to Shirlene Chinchilla Perez from Quebrada Amarilla. Shirlene, a sweet young girl with a big heart, together with her husband Carlos Bermudez, are really putting the effort towards making Quebrada Amarilla and the surrounding area a better place to live for all animals. Their house is full of happy, healthy pets, many of them rescued by Shirlene or Carlos, and many that were just dumped off in front of their house by irresponsible owners. Yet all of them find a loving home there, where they are cared for until they can get adopted. A visit to their home reveals just how much they care about our furry little friends — there’s the group of little abandoned kittens exploring their new place, the 5 adorable little puppies found in a box in front of their house happily playing with each other and there is an injured dog that was left on the side of the road that is now receiving the proper care.
Shirlene and Carlos not only take care of animals in need, they also make sure that they find good homes and get spayed/neutered as soon as possible. Together they both run a little factory where they produce beautiful clothes, especially all kinds of shirts with logos on them, and a percentage of their income is always put aside in a special box in order to pay for castrations of their foster babies. I’ve known Shirlene and Carlos for over 5 years now, and I’ve completely lost count of the number of animals rescued by them — thanks to this extraordinary couple so many have had a chance for a new, better life. We can only hope that more and more people will follow this example. How can we deal with the overpopulation problem? Please spread the word about this little project. Talk to your friends and neighbors, and tell them following: If they happen to have a female cat or female dog which is in heat or pregnant, ask them to PLEASE DON’T DUMP THE POOR THING OFF SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY FROM WHERE THEY LIVE, hoping that she will not find her way back home. If she is in heat, or just days after, we still can have her fixed. If she is pregnant, ask this person to please allow her have her babies in their place, and to contact us in order to help to take care of the puppies/kittens. Once they are ready to go, we will help to find new homes for them. We will also make sure that their female cat or dog gets spayed as soon as the babies are adopted. We will offer them a special low price for the surgery, and if they need more financial assistance, we will provide it for them. We will also offer the special low spay/neuter price for all babies. Please help us to resolve the overpopulation problem in this humane way. Ask people you know to be a part of the solution, and not part of the problem. Spay/Neuter news
This last month was one of the most successful months in OUR CASTRATION PROGRAM. 81 animals, some strays and some belonging to low income families, were spayed/neutered this June. The little spay days in both the Jaco and Herradura clinics, with a total of 56 fixed animals, were sponsored by Sylvia van Baekel, Linda Look and SASY. The spay day on Sunday, June 13th, in Esterillos Oeste, was sponsored by Pat Chidester, Fred & Brigitte, Craig Payne, Mike & Martha, Robby MacLean, Rosemary Chamberlain, Bar "Le Loft" (Kristel Bayers) and Karen Young from the restaurant “Los Almendros”, who provided a fabulous lunch for all. This clinic was organized by Dr. Wendy Villalobos and Elisabeth Lubbers — both from the Plaza Boulevard Clinic in Jacó. Doris Schluckebier assisted Wendy during the surgeries, and Pat Chidester, Elisabeth Lubbers, Anyorleth Viales and Rosemary Chamberlain took care of the animals before and after surgery. On this day 25 animals were spayed/neutered, most of them females. A special thanks goes out to the teacher from the Esterillos School, who gave permission to use the place for the clinic. Education news Our EDUCATION PROGRAM “Sharing the world with the animals” during the last two months was also a huge success, as we concentrated our efforts on Escuela Central de Jacó (Kindergarden to 6th grade) with 660 students. We were able to reach all the students with many different presentations and events, and here are some of the subjects we covered:
Special Thanks to Luz Piñeda, who does an excellent job teaching our young people everything they need to know about animals, their needs and feelings and about how to be a responsible animal owner. Also a huge THANK YOU goes to the school principal Vera Virginia Alpizar and to all the other teachers for their support and cooperation. Thank you for your time and support. Helping our chained-up friends It’s rainy season here in Costa Rica. We now have so many storms, all with rain, thunder and lightning, and so many dogs in the area are tied up on a short rope with no shelter, nowhere to hide, and no way to escape if the property floods.
The Problem: All over the world there are people who believe that dogs should live outside. So their dogs are kept tied up, because if they were free they would escape the yard. Many animal lovers in these countries are trying to get those dogs off the chain, offering the owners the solution of installing a fence (for those who don’t have any) or extensions for the existing fence if the dogs can jump over it. There are organizations collecting donations and building fences for chained animals in cases when the owner cannot afford it. Unfortunately this is not the reality here in Costa Rica, where we live and work. Most people here, especially in the little towns and villages, don’t have a fence, nor can they afford any. And they will keep their dogs tied up, because they think that this will make them good guards. Or, they believe that this will make them more intimidating to potential thieves. Or they are afraid that they will run away or get killed by a car. Or simply because their parents had their dogs chained up, and this is the only way they know to keep a dog. After some time, these dogs become quite anti-social, becoming more and more wild and scary, especially if they are by themselves with no possibility to socialize with other dogs or humans. As a result, as soon as they are off chain they run away, chase cars and bicycles, attack people and other dogs — not a good scenario. What can we do?
But there is almost always a way to start a friendly conversation with them, which later gives us the possibility to address the problem and discuss with them possible solutions. Building fences is not an option for us, as we simply don’t have the funds for it. But what we can do is install a long cable runner. It’s not a perfect solution, but it will give the animal much more freedom than what he has on a short rope, which is what most of the people use down here. Please help us in finding dogs that are chained-up, and installing runners and shelters for them. Once we do this, we’ll stay in touch with the family, talking to them and teaching them how to properly take care of their animals. We’ll show them how to walk them and feed them, and how to make sure that they will not drown in a storm. We bring them magazines, flyers and all kinds of materials that we want them to read and learn. This is a great way to change not only the dogs life, but also the people’s attitudes on how they should care for them. This is the way to make sure that their next dog will have a better life. It’s cheap to install a runner for a dog — only 6 to 10 dollars, depending how long it is. With this runner, a dog will have between 18 sqm and 30 sqm of free moving space. We can install it so that one end will end up at the terrace, so the dog may stay close to the people and have shelter when it’s raining. If there is no dog house, we will ask the owner to contribute to the project of building it. If he doesn’t have materials to build, we can help with that. We can also help if both materials and labor is needed. In all these years we’ve been working with and for animals, we have built many dog houses and runners. But we need your help in order to first find all the dogs in need, and then to install for them runners and shelters. We would like to start this program now, as the rains and storms make these dogs lives even more miserable than they already are. We have all kinds of info which you will need, should you decide to be part of this great project. Please look around your neighborhood and give us a call at 2-643-4012 or email us at info@mckee-jaco.com — We will go with you to talk to your neighbors and help install the first runner, and if necessary, the shelter as well. Once you see how easy it is, you will be able to do it yourself and also teach your friends how to do it. How do we finance this project? The costs of making a runner using 6 to 10 meters of special cable, with all the materials we would need, will be around $6.00 – $10.00 for each dog. If they don’t have a collar, (unfortunately this happens quite often - instead of a collar, they just have a rope or a heavy chain around their necks, and it’s mostly too tight) we will also need a collar, which depending on the size of the animal will be another $5.00 - $7.00. The most expensive part is the actual shelter — sometimes we are lucky, and there is already some kind of shelter that we just need to adjust and fix, but if there is none and we will have to pay for both materials and labor, it will cost us between $70.00 and $100.00, depending on the size and design. Our supporter for years, Linda Look, has offered to sponsor this project. If you would also like to be a part of it, please let us know. Together we can make it happen! Thank you for your time and support. The Rodolfo Zuñiga Jazz Quintet & The idea was born when Rodolfo Zuñiga, the band leader and drummer of THE RODOLFO ZUÑIGA JAZZ QUINTET, the famous jazz band that came to Costa It was a wonderful event — great music, and a wonderful place to enjoy it with Jason — our of our first rescues, one of the greatest dogs — has died
He was definitely one of the worst looking dogs we ever rescued. And one the He was a pack leader at Doris's and Dieter's place. Dogs and cats, puppies He had two different “godparents” — Mariela Sanchez Zapata from San
Jason was old. When we rescued him, we were told that he was at least 8 Jason did have a long life — he was with us for another 7 years — and these He was happy and healthy, and the day before he died he enjoyed cookies Socks, the retired adventurer, now online Another happy ending story which will make you smile — the big adventure of Our accident animals looking for sponsors PATCHI — the nice hunting dog, who was rescued months ago with an old AZUL — this little guy was rescued in Tárcoles months ago, and had many SMUDGE‚— one of the little kitties fostered by Arusha, just came back from GEORGE — was hit by a car on the Costanera 2 weeks ago. He was collected by Cassidy and Paul from Herradura volunteered to foster him - thank you guys, If you would like to full or part sponsor one of these animals, please let us know. All these animals are also looking for a new home — if you would consider adopting one of them or know somebody who would — please send us an email to info@mckee-jaco.com. Thank you for your time and support. The McKee-Jacó project held another successful spay/neuter clinic in Tárcoles on Sunday, April 25th 66 companion animals were attended to by the very dedicated veterinary team headed by Dra. Rosalinda Alvarez, which included team members Dra. Shirley Hernandez and their assistants Joselyn Hernandez, Marcela Hidalgo and Alejandra Meoño.
Other major contributors to this very successful event were the organizers from Tárcoles, Patri Holmer, Brenda Cira Morales Gonzales, Marvin Jose Olivas Morales and the Scout Group 317 with their leader Alexander Rodriguez Vargas — they were a tremendous help in keeping the many animals calm, and seeing that each was taken in the correct order. Where to leave our four-legged friends when we have to travel Since each year there are more and more animal lovers and responsible animal owners in our community, there are also more possibilities to have your pets taken care of while you have to travel.
Volunteers needed to organize our next fundraiser It’s time for our next fundraiser party. We are looking for VOLUNTEERS WITH ENOUGH TIME TO ORGANIZE THIS EVENT. If you could help, please contact me at 2-643-4012 or send me an email to info@mckee-jaco.com. Thank you for your time and support. Central Pacific Women's Group meeting On March 18th our dedicated member and favorite foster mom for all canine orphans — Taffy Tucker — presented our project to the members of the Central Pacific Women’s Group. A huge THANK YOU goes out to all of the Women’s Group members for receiving us in such a warm and friendly manner. We met some old friends who we’d lost contact with, and made some new friends who offered us all kinds of help and support. It was one of the nicest experiences, as we not only had a chance to present our project, but also received so much input from the members, many with new ideas and some offers to help. We also received the proceeds from the regular meeting-donations, as well as some additional and very generous donations from the group members. Education program in Jacó schools continues
As soon as the schools opened their doors, we picked up right where we’d left off before the big holidays last year. We started in February with a meeting with the teachers and parents at Escuela Central — with its 660 students, it’s the biggest school in Jacó. And just like last year, both teachers and parents were very happy to have us back on board, offering us all kinds of help in order to continue the education program “Sharing the world with the animals”. We had a lot of fun with different competitions and games. Thanks to Purina and Pets y mas, who sponsored this event, we were able to offer great prizes to the winners. Another Special thanks goes to Cynthia Lizano and Luz Pineda, (both of whom are in charge of the education program this year) for organizing this meeting in such a professional and interesting way. And to the school principal Vera Alpizar and to the teachers, for their incredibly effective support, both now and in the past. And of course to Pets y mas and Purina for providing us with prizes for this great event. After this successful “comeback-meeting”, we began making our presentations every day to different groups of kids. What we teach is the concept of responsibility and respect for all manner of life — for both animal and persons alike.
We also had a meeting with the teachers from our Colegio Profesional de Jacó – with its 754 students, it’s the biggest high school in our county. We picked up our work there, immediately after the Easter Holiday in April. We are still unable to secure a sponsor for including the Herradura-School in our project, so this school, with a student body numbering over 800, will have to wait until we find a solution in order to introduce our program there at least as a “part-time” project. SASY! supports the spay/neuter program in the poorest communities STOP ANIMAL SUFFERING – YES! is a non-profit organization, one dedicated to locating and distributing the funding needed to support the efforts of many groups and individuals, specifically those dedicated to creating a better life for animals in Costa Rica. Once a year SASY! organizes a big Charity Auction, and a large part of all obtained funds are distributed to other organizations, in order to help them in their efforts to make Costa Rica a better place to live for both humans and animals. This year, our organization received a contribution from SASY which will make it possible for us to offer our spay/neuter program in the poorest communities of our county. THANK YOU SO MUCH SASY! We start with a big spay day in Tárcoles, which is planned in April. We are still looking for other sponsors for this clinic — if you would like to contribute, please let us know. If you would like to learn more about SASY!, please check their website at http://www.sasycostarica.com/. Our founding member and good friend Trish Johnson re-located to Florida this March — we lost a very dedicated member of our group, as well as a very good friend. It’s only 4 weeks since she is gone, and we already miss her a lot. THANK YOU Trish, for being there for us for so many years! We wish you all the best, and hope you enjoy this great new start in this new stage of your life! Nominations for the next Golden Paw Award The nominations for the next Golden Paw Award are due by May 15. If you know someone who makes our community a truly better place through the work they do with animals, please click here to fill out the form on our website or email us at info@mckee-jaco.com. Nominations may come from any community member. Please read the nomination guidelines before filling out the form. Thank you for your time and support. Castration Days for strays and pets Another CASTRATION DAYS FOR STRAYS AND PETS BELONGING TO LOW INCOME FAMILIES took place on February 2nd,3rd and 4th at the Plaza Boulevard Clinic in Jacó. 30 animals, all strays and animals belonging to extremely poor families were spayed/neutered during these 3 days. Our special THANK YOU goes to Jacó firefighters save a kitty Jacó firefighters saved a kitty that escaped from a taxi on her way to the vet clinic. Scared to death, in an area she didn’t know, Rosis did what all cats do in situations like this — she climbed a big tree, going so high that there was no way to bring her down with a regular ladder. Not only the owners — Andrea and Christian — but also the people from the place known as Cabinas Santa Ana, were trying for hours to help rescue the poor little puss. Finally, somebody had an idea to call the fire department, and this is how Victor Venegas, Alberto Mendez and Ana Laura Alvarado got involved in this “animal tragedy”. They came immediately, and like true firefighters, were very friendly and ready to help. The job ended up being a “piece of cake” for the firefighters, who are obviously well-trained in ALL forms of rescue! Another huge THANK YOU goes out to Victor, Alberto and Ana Laura and to all the other firefighters from the Jacó station for being there for Rosis, and for also offering their help should any more of our furry friends need any assistance in the future. Our accident animals at the University Clinic A few of OUR ACCIDENT ANIMALS AT THE UNIVERSITY CLINIC have already found a sponsor. Thank you to Stuart Welch who offered to sponsor Pluton and to Liza Price for sponsoring Blacky — a beautiful dog from Esterillos, whose front leg had to be amputated. If somebody would like to sponsor or part-sponsor one of them, please contact me at 2-643-4012 or info@mckee-jaco.com.
Sponsors needed for the education project at the Herradura school After 6 weeks of vacation, the schools opened their gates this February, which means that we are back on track with our program “Sharing the world with the animals”. The last year was one huge success — in numerous activities we taught our young people the value of empathy and compassion towards ALL animals. Our primary target was to educate them towards a better understanding of the needs of all animals, the relationship between the animal and it’s environment, and the ways in which all animals, the environment and humans are related. We implemented our program in the two main schools in Jacó — Colegio Tecnico Profesional (from 7th to the 11th grade) and Escuela Central de Jacó (from Kinder to 6th grade) and were able to reach 1388 students and their families. This year we will continue working with both of these schools, but we would also like to include the school in Herradura in our project. This school has over 800 students, and we consider it a very important target in our efforts to make Garabito county a better place to live for both humans and animals. In order to include this school we need sponsor/s — if you would like to part-sponsor this great project, please contact me at 2-643-4012 or info@mckee-jaco.com. IT’S NOT ALWAYS CRUELTY — MOSTLY THEY JUST DON’T KNOW ANY BETTER. THIS IS WHY EDUCATION IS SO VITALLY IMPORTANT. Thank you for your time and support. Spay-Neuter Competition in Jacó Clinic
The Spay-Neuter Competition in Jacó Clinic held during the week of January 18 - 23 was a big success. We attended to 25 kids and their families, providing not only the surgery, but also distributing all kinds of flyers made especially for this event while addressing the most important problems in our area. All the kids received many wonderful prizes, from school kits, dog and cat chow and animal magazines, to certificates for a free consultation at the Jacó clinic, valid for the entire year 2010. A huge THANK YOU goes to Dra. Wendy Villalobos and Dr. Alejandro Madriz and all the staff at the Plaza Boulevard clinic in Jacó for their excellent work and assistance during this week. A very special THANKS also to Purina for donating 75 bags of dog and puppy chow for this event, as well as other activities we are planning for the months of February and March. And to our friends from “Pets y mas” magazine for providing (once again) so many free magazines for all the kids and their families. And of course, to Mrs. Linda Look from the USA, who had the original idea for this great activity, and also sponsored it! Castration Week for strays and pets belonging to low income families will take place during the week of February 2nd to February 7th. If you know of any animals with no owners, or animal owners who cannot afford even the very low special price we offer in our monthly clinics, please contact me for an appointment. Please consider that pet owners who qualify for this surgery have no transportation possibilities either, and will need somebody’s help in order to bring their animals in. Kids support animals in need Joshua Thomas (10 years old) and his cousin Daniela Zamora (11 years old) from Herradura decided to go into business and make some money for a computer they both want to purchase. Joshua’s mom Laura prepared some of the yummy tuna dip she is famous for, and the two young entrepreneurs went out and hit the streets for a door-to-door-sale. Turns out the kids were very successful, the sale went great, after they paid the mom back for her expenses, they had 42,000 colones left! They decided that they will donate ¢18,000 ($32.) to the animals in need, (both are big time animal lovers) and split the balance of 24,000 colones — Way to go Joshua, Daniela and Laura!
Our accident animals at the University Clinic December was a month of accidents, so now January is a month of vet bills for them. We have so many animal stories — some of them with, others without a happy ending. You will love this one. Check it out for yourself, visit this page: If you have a similar experience you’d like to share with us, please send us your story — there is a link to the form on the bottom of the “Case Histories” page. Thank you for your time and support. Spay/Neuter competition for There will be some “homework” for our Elementary and High School students for their long summer vacation. On the enrollment days, (December 17th and 18th) all students are receiving information about the special spay/neuter competition, held in January from the 18th to the 23rd at the Jacó clinic.
The special price of the surgery will be 5000 colones, (about $9) which has to be paid by the student who brings the animal in. The first 25 students who bring an animal in will receive:
There will be also some “surprise prizes” for all participants. Vacation time here in Costa Rica is very long, and during this time our young people here don’t have anything useful to do, as our county doesn’t offer much for them. This will be a great opportunity for them to learn more about how a vet clinic works, as they will be interacting with the vet, learning about the proper care of their pets and maybe even getting a chance to volunteer in one of our clinics on occasion. Another successful spay/neuter month The castrations this month are being sponsored by: Nancy Lebo, Stuart Welch, Sylvia van Baekel and Trish Johnson. Thank you so much for your generosity!
THE “GOLDEN PAW AWARD” is presented twice a year by our organization, and it’s purpose is to honor local people in our community for their compassion and service toward animals. On December 16, 2009, the award was presented to Rossy Quesada Gomez, the popular owner of Cafe del Mar, located in front of the new park on Jacó’s main street. Rossy helps all animals who happen by her restaurant or her house. She feeds them when they are hungry, makes sure that they get fixed and fosters them until they get adopted. All animals are welcome at her place — she has 3 cats and 9 dogs of her own, with many others that are just visitors. Some of them she found injured on the street, others just came to her place and never left — and why would they?
If you would like to see the presentation “Life” — tune in to Channel 11 in January — we will inform you of the exact day and time. Sterilization of Animals Doce Lunas is famous not only as a great place to stay while on vacation, the hotel is also extremely cat friendly. All cats who live there (some of them from the day the hotel opened its doors years ago) are very well taken care of, and all are spayed/neutered and healthy. Thank you to the owner, manager and all employees who give these amazing animals love and care. If you are unable to have a pet at home, you could instead make a Virtual Adoption, enabling us to take care of animals that:
To learn more about this kind of help, please go to this page or send us an email. The idea of this great project is to sensitize the community to animal suffering. Our organization has supported this great project, and hopes that one day these “strays” will be the only ones on Costa Rica’s streets.
Another successful activity with the younger members of our community and their parents took place on Friday, October 16th at the new park in Jacó. 240 1st thru 3rd graders from the Escuela Central in Jacó, some of them in the company of their parents, some with their pets, attended the event together with their teachers. After a typical breakfast for everybody, (sponsored by the parents) they were offered some different presentations. The ones who brought their pets attended the presentation by Dr. Esteban Soto from The Plaza Boulevard clinic in Jacó, and they won the following prizes for their furry friends: ultrasound teeth cleaning, vaccines and consultations. Angela Maria Lozano from Escuelarte Jacó offered an art class for 60 kids while two of the school teachers were painting faces, so in the end we had some cat and butterfly-faced kids all jumping around. The magazines “Pets y Mas” and “Mucho Gusto” donated by the director Christine Bork, were also offered to the public for a donation of 500 colones. Even though the real focus of this activity was to send a message to both the youngest members of our community as well as their parents, with raising money being more of an “added bonus”, we still raised 27,500 colones ($47.00) from the cake raffle and magazine sale. This money will go toward our next spay day. Adoption days held every month on the 15th at Yan Clinic in Herradura If you have a similar experience you’d like to share with us, please send us your story — there is a link to the form on the bottom of the “Case Histories” page. If you wish to see some pictures from our education program, please click HERE to view our slide show in a new window. Thank you for your time and support. Katja Bader
The months of AUGUST and SEPTEMBER were both very successful, especially the castrations and the education programs. If you wish to see more pictures, please click HERE to view our slide show in a new window. Thank you for your time and support. Katja Bader
Another 30 animals, all strays or animals owned by low income families, were spayed/neutered this weekend in Herradura. Our THANK YOU goes to the organizers Arusha Pabisch and Sylvia van Baekel, vets Dr. Yesenia Alpízar Naranjo and Dr. Alexander Jiménez Camacho from The YAN clinic in Herradura and their assistants, Doris Schluckebier, Flor Maria Cambronero Arias, Jose Maria Cambronero Arias and Sharet Juergens Alpízar. Many thanks also to Carlos Cambronero Arias and Luz Maria Villarga Vargas for offering us the use of their house. Thank you for your time and support. Katja Bader
Good news about the “Ramada Puppies” — Doris Schluckebier and Trish Johnson went there a few times a day for over 3 weeks, and were able to catch 9 of the puppies and all the adults. There is only one puppy left, and we hope to get him/her in the next few days. All of the puppies and adults are already spayed/neutered — thank you to Dr. Esteban Soto and Dra. Wendy Villalobos from the Jacó clinic for operating on them without appointments (which could not be made, as we never knew when and how many we could catch) and also for working after normal business hours. The puppies are still with their foster families: Sylvia, Leo and Doris. Now we need many new homes for all of them — if you know anybody who is interested in adopting a puppy, please let us know. Thank you for your time and support. Katja Bader Another 60 animals spayed/neutered in April Since the new clinic in Herradura opened 3 months ago, the number of animals we have spayed/neutered has doubled, reaching about 50 a month. This is definitely a big improvement, and we hope that we will be able to keep it this way in the future. Dogs at the former Ramada office There were 2 female and 4 male dogs and about 9 puppies living under and around the former office of the Ramada project, all of them very shy and scared of people. We’ve been able to catch and fix one male and one female each so far. All the other adult dogs are extremely difficult to catch, and we are still trying — if somebody has experience and would like to help us, please call Trish at 2643-1162 or Doris at 2643-2359. From the puppies, we’ve got 4 males, and they are already fixed and adapting to their foster homes with Ike and with Sylvia. There are still more puppies at the Ramada site, and it’s difficult to count them, but it looks like every day some are missing. We are afraid that they wander out into the streets and get injured or killed, so we need both help to catch them as well as foster homes for them. They are difficult first, as they are scared of humans, but with some time and lots of love they change in one-two days. Abandoned kittens April was a month of abandoned kittens. Some of them were put in plastic bags and dropped on the streets, other in boxes left in front of our houses. Some of them could already eat, others had to be raised with a bottle. Some of them survived, other didn’t. 5 kittens, about 1 week old, were left in a plastic bag in somebody’s pickup for hours in the sun, and didn’t make it. To be sure, we do have an overpopulation problem with cats in our area, but there is a humane way to take care of this problem. If there is a mom cat with kittens in your neighborhood, please make sure that the babies stay with the mother for at least 5-6 weeks. As soon as they can eat by themselves, please bring the mom cat to one of the clinics we work with in order to have her spayed. Don’t wait! — female cats can get pregnant immediately after they stop nursing. And make sure that everybody who adopts one of the kittens knows that they have to be spayed/neutered as soon as their weight reaches 3 pounds. We always offer a low cost castration for all low income families, and we pay for those who cannot afford even the low price. So there is really no reason to wait! Thank you for your time and support. Katja Bader
Many thanks go out to all of those that participated in the fund raising event that was held at Ganesha Bar in Jacó on March 25th. A big thanks also goes to Tina Wallace and Ninoshka Pardo from TS Water for making the arrangements with the restaurant and all the preparations. So many people were involved in making it such a grand success, and our heartfelt thanks goes to each and every one of you. A Special Thanks to our Sponsors:
AND … ALL 80 OF YOU WHO JOINED US AT THIS EVENT! Katja Bader Our “Accident Animals” There are many animals, mostly those that have been injured in car accidents, which need special orthopedic operations in order to ever walk again. The University Clinic in Heredia (UNA) that handles all these difficult cases for us helps us a lot with all kinds of discounts. But the bills are still very high for our relatively shallow pockets, especially in these difficult times.
If you have any more questions about our organization, please visit our website at http://www.mckee-jaco.com or send me an email. Another great “Spay Day” — this time in Herradura! The McKee Project-Jacó held yet another spay/neuter clinic for stray animals and pets belonging to low income families on Sunday, February 15 at the Salon Comunal in Herradura. Katja Bader “Spay Day” in Tárcoles was a huge success Dear friends, The McKee Project Jacó held the most successful spay/neuter clinic in its 6 year history in the Jacó area on Sunday, September 21st. Another successful “Spay Day” Dear friends, The McKee Project Jacó held yet another successful spay/neuter program for stray animals and pets belonging to low income families on Suturday, June 14th, in Esterillos Oeste. The clinic was organized by our "Esterillos Connection" volunteers: the Raihn family (Kristy, Kurt, Jennaka, and Tiana) and Elisabeth Lubbers. We spayed and neutered 57 animals, most of which were street and beach dogs and cats. A warm THANK YOU goes out to our veterinary team of Dr. Blas Rivas from Alajuela and Dr. Olman Solano from Atenas, and their assistants Doris Schluckebier, Elisabeth Lubbers and Pat Chidester for their excellent work. Also, a warm thank you to Brent and Ellen, Brigitte and Fred, Russ and Marga, Pat, Colleen, Brenda and John, Anne, Beau, Janet, Kristy and Kurt and Fletcher for their financial support. Without your generous help, many of the local animals would not have been able to be spayed that day. Together we can make a difference!
Dear friends, If you would like to help us with this project, please go to our website at http://www.mckee-jaco.com/ or give me a call at: 2-643-4012. A young boy brought it to the University Clinic (UNA), but as he didn't have any money and the dog wasn't even his, we decided to pay for the treatment. The money for this came from a generous donation we receive lately from an anonymous supporter from Los Suenos. Unfortunately they had to amputate the puppy's leg, and it is recuperating nicely in the hospital right now, but we will have to find a good home for it soon. If you would like to adopt it (or know somebody who could), please let us know via email: Update - New equipment for the Clinic I hope you all had a great holiday, enjoying the company of your family and friends. We're starting this new year with a big project. Our goal is to take care of all the strays, as well as those animals living with very poor families in Quebrada Ganado and in Tarcoles. This project will be made possible thanks to a generous donation from Judy Yanover from Los Sueños. We also would like to thank Patricia and Serge Volders from Tour Mart Jacó, who graciously offered to take care of the transportation to the clinic and back. Also, a HUGE "thank you" goes out to both veterinarians – Dr. Eugenia (Gini) Bermudez and Dr. Carolina Rodriguez for taking care of the operations practically for cost. There are also some changes in Dr. Alfaro's clinic. Dr. Jesus Calderon went back to the clinic in San Jose, and in his place came Dr. Carolina Rodriguez, who attends to the patients on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. And since our last Newsletter, the clinic now has the following new equipment up and running:
These 3 machines make it now possible to quickly diagnose animals, in order to start any necessary treatment immediately!! There is also an ultrasonic dental cleaning machine, which uses sound waves to remove plaque and tartar for a complete dental cleaning. Clean teeth are very important for any animal's health, and with this equipment, the cleaning process is no longer a difficult and dangerous procedure. It is now just a short, painless treatment that renders much better results than manual cleaning Update - CLINIC Dear friends and supporters, McKee Jacó proudly announces that starting Monday, November 5th, 2007, Dr. Roger Alfaro will be in charge of our clinic in Jacó. Most of you already know him, as he and his clinic in San Jose has supported our project from day one. Dr. Alfaro is one of the best vets in Costa Rica, and his clinic is definitely one of the best equipped animal clinics in the entire country. For more information about his clinic in Pavas, please go to his website http://www.consultoriodralfaro.com. Putting the business part of the project in the hands of Dr. Alfaro means that we of McKee will have more time for our own project — time we haven't had since we first started the clinic. Dr. Alfaro, who's not only a great vet but also a big animal lover, is giving us the fantastic opportunity of having the best vets in Costa Rica, using the best modern medical equipment, available to us each and every day. And all this at a fraction of what it would normally cost us. The clinic will be run by Dr. Jesus Calderon and Dr. Eugenia Bermudes, who will share the on-site duties in order to make sure that there will be always a veterinarian staying in the clinic, ready to tend to any and all emergencies any time of the day or night. So now we will be a REAL 24/7 clinic, like we originally planned! At this point we would like to thank Dr. Victor Quesada for the wonderful job he did in our clinic during the last 4 months. Dr. Quesada left us on his own wish, going back to his clinic in San Jose. We wish him all the best in his professional and private life. We will keep you up-to-date with all the news from and around the clinic, and I promise that there will be a lot in the coming days! Thank you, and talk to you later! Katja Bader Update - CLINIC Dear friends and supporters,
In this short time we have been open, we've been able to help about 150 animals who were sick, as well as also spay/neuter 16 dogs and cats, mostly from lower income families. We hope that in about 3 months we will be able to hire another vet, and then be able to offer round-the-clock service.
Asociación Pro Bienestar Animal (McKee Jacó) launched their new website on November 15, 2006. It will include Spanish and English versions. A huge THANK YOU goes to Alberto Zevallos (Tito) and Donna Connely from Art Zenith and Felix von Griessenbeck (our supporter in Germany) for making this happen. Thanks to Felix for getting the website project started, and for his willingness to help animals. Thanks to Tito and Donna for giving their skill and time to enhance the website. Thanks to all of you, the finished project is beautiful! September 12, 2006 APPEAL TO OUR FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS — Dear Friends and Fellow Supporters, After over three years of providing limited services to animals-in-need in this area, and assisting the community with our many programs, despite the lack of volunteers, finances, (never mind the cultural differences!), we are still more active than ever! Yet we have come to the point where we have reached our limits and need your help. After dealing with the Municipality of Jacó for over a year without any results, and after asking the owners of all the big farms for a small piece of land, (and always getting the same answer), we have decided to raise the necessary funds ourselves to purchase a lot with a house, for a clinic that we so desperately need. With a proper facility in the Jacó/Herradura/Hermosa area, we will be able to continue our project in an effective, cost-saving manner, as well as also:
To do this, our goal is to raise $80,000 for the purchase of such property. We are now asking for any donation that you can help us with to make this "dream" a reality. In doing so, your generous contribution will:
Together we can do so much more! Thank you for your time. Katja Bader |
People here don’t like it when somebody tells them how to deal with their animals. They believe that they own their dogs, and as the owners, they can do whatever they want with the animal. It’s very difficult talking to them about something that they are doing wrong without offending them.
Thank you Rossy, for all the time and love you give to those furry little friends who need your help. 
We always have dogs, cats, puppies and kittens that are looking for a new home, so please check our website and check out Speedy, Buddy, Quijote and Asko, as they need a new place as soon as possible. Besides our 35 cats and kittens, most of which are “ready to go”, there is also Baz — a cool young cat who “adopted” Hotel Vista Pacifico. Baz is a very social cat, neutered, has all vaccines and needs a new home, as the Hotel has already 3 of their own cats.
Jacó – the community responsible for its animals
We also had cake and brownies donated by TCBY Jacó, Norma Kahn, Julie Textor, Anna Pilz, Cafe del Mar, Teri Dominey and Douglas Giampapa — some of them were raffled off, and some were offered to all those who helped us organizing this event.
August and September bring much success
Special THANK YOU goes out to the teachers of both schools Nilsa Bustamante, Alexander Sandoval, Ruth Rojas and Jimy Alpizar and the school principals Vera Virginia Alpizar and Fernando Pusey — without their cooperation none of these incredible results would have been possible.
Another successful Spay Day in Herradura
Update on Ramada dogs 
McKee-Jacó Fund 
Update - “El Hueco”
As you can imagine, the people there cannot afford even the very low price of 7000 colones, so we will have to take care of all costs.
