Will Work For Board

  Playa Flamingo, Province of Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Playa Flamingo, Costa Rica

THINGS WE LEARNED:   1. The bus schedules in Costa Rica have their own agenda, just ask at least 3 locals, then show up ½ hour early and plan to wait at least 2 hours...patience, you'll  get there eventually!  2.  Animals of Playa Flamingo are very lucky to have such a passionate advocate to watch out for them. 

INTERESTING FACT:   One of the veterinarians who worked for this organization could do 40 spays/neuters per day!

Our apartment view

Finally settled into paradise in Playa Flamingo, it didn't take long for the work to start.  We were awarded the luxurious upper level apartment with sweeping vistas of the beach and ocean, usually rented to vacationers but conveniently vacant during our visit.  Dawn Scott and her husband Sid run Costa Rica Pet Care, the organization I was volunteering for, and had no shortage of work for us to do!  I worked under the umbrella of a local veterinarian named Rosalinda, who taught me the ropes and stuck around to help Dawn for most of the week.  

Playa Flamingo prints

  I must first devote a paragraph to praising Dawn and Sid's incredible efforts.  Playa Flamingo has some of the most well cared for dogs of any area we have seen on our travels.  The streets are not clogged with skinny, mangy, injured animals.  In fact, most of the animals we saw were fixed, healthy and had collars.  At first, we figured that it must be due to the ample population of wealthy foreigners that reside here on a full or part time basis, but that was not the case.  These animals actually came from some of the poorest homes that we have seen thus far.

Playa Flamingo

On the very first day out on the road with Dawn, we quickly began to understand what put Playa Flamingo apart from the rest.  Dawn works tirelessly driving around to all the local homes, down the craziest of roads, through rivers and even on foot when the car can't make it.  She seems to know everyone who owns an animal within a 10 km radius of her home, and more importantly, they all seem to know her.  She knows who has animals that need fixing at the next clinic, and who has new puppies or kittens that need deworming and vaccinating.  She educates, hounds, scolds, praises, begs or does whatever she needs to do to keep "her" animals healthy.  And it works!  The locals of Playa Flamingo are more aware of what care their animals need than in any other place we have yet to see.  They appreciate how wonderful it is to have a healthy happy animal, and they call Dawn if they have any problems or concerns.  I have no doubt that these are people who would otherwise not be able to treat their animals, due overwhelmingly to lack of money, but also due to lack of education, differing priorities, and lack of ability to transport their animals to town...Dawn takes care of all of that!  

Steph doing consults

We had a busy week.  We spent a day driving around to homes rounding up candidates for spaying and castration.  This of course, led to several consultations for various other health problems, usually situated on the hood of Dawn's car, or on the front porch of the homes.  We dispensed flea and tick control, dewormers, trimmed nails and checked teeth, examined sore legs and skin lesions.  I got my first taste of the tick born rickettsial disease, erlichia, that plaques the animals of Central America, causing anemia, bleeding disorders, fever, swollen lymph nodes and death if untreated.  

Getting to Claudia's

One example that I would like to use is Claudia.  Dawn took us to Claudia's house on the first day. We drove down dusty sideroads as far as we could go, and then parked the car, scrambled down a ravine and wadded through a river.  Claudia's house was very small, with dirt floors and rusty tin walls precariously holding up a rusty tin roof.  There were chickens wandering in and out of the house, and dogs lounging in the sun outside.

Claudia's home

Several small children helped us line up the animals, and we carted off 3 intact dogs to our clinic for surgery.  Claudia was very concerned about their fleas and ticks, and worried that one of the younger dogs wasn't eating very well.  She didn't have a penny (or colone) to give us for our work. 

Steph and Ross surgery in clinic

Over the next 4 days, I spayed and neutered 40+ animals, many belonging to families like Claudia's.  With the animals that Rosalinda did, the numbers were up above 60.  We used injectable anesthetic (Telozil, Ketamine, Acepromazine and Atropine for those who care), and instruments sterilized in a pressure cooker and a cold sterile.  My hands were raw with blisters by the end of it, but I had an incredible sense of accomplishment.

Crowd looking on

Most of our surgeries were held at a nice little clinic owned by Dawn, with Dawn driving around to all day to pick up and drop off the animals, because she doesn't want to rely on people getting the animals there themselves.  One day, we set up a clinic in a nearby town, doing surgery in a stifling hot feed store with the fierce wind knocking the tin roof above our heads, and a crowd of locals looking on
.  

Dog attacked by wild animal

One evening, after arriving home from a long day or surgeries, we were called out to see a dog that was "bleeding from the nose".  We drove deep into the countryside to find a large dog, surrounded by some very concerned family members.  The dog was giving us a rather disturbing smile.

Steph repairing lip on patio

His lip had been ripped open to expose his teeth underneath, most likely by a wild animal in the forest such as a Koati, according to his owner.  So we stuffed him in the car, shipped him back to Dawn's and I heavily sedated him and sutured up his face and chest on the patio table.  

"Timmy's" broken leg

  Another day, Chad and Dawn were out picking up animals for surgery, when they came across a cute little black dog with an obviously broken hind leg.  The owners were concerned, and were treating a wound on the leg with cattle wound spray, but had no money to bring her to a veterinarian.  Dawn scooped her into the car, and raced her to the clinic, where I discovered the "wound" was actually a piece of bone penetrating through the skin.

Steph and other vet pinning "Timmy"

The poor little girl, wrestling happily on three legs with another dog when Chad and Dawn found her, had an 8 day old open distal fibular fracture.  I cleaned it as best I could, but was unable to reduce it manually.  I splinted it and put her on antibiotics.  Luckily, Dawn pulled another veterinarian out of her pocket, an American vet who had a condo nearby and had orthopedic experience.

Steph and Timmy

One night, we sterilized our instruments as best we could in a pressure cooker, steamed our lap sheets in the oven, and pinned the leg.  It was difficult but the surgery seemed to be successful.  Chad nicknamed her "Timmy"  (for Tiny Tim with a limp), and she lived out the rest of the week with Chad and I in "our" apartment, needing daily sugar bandage changes for her contaminated open wound.  

Chad, all the while, was an incredible help.  He drove around and picked up and dropped off animals, he sterilized the instruments, and held the animals.  When Dawn said "jump", he said "how high" with barely more than a slight grumble of contempt.  I am sure he will get me back for it sometime!

Playa Flamingo Sunset

  Though we were busy, we managed to find some time to relax as well.  We were able to enjoy the beautiful Playa Flamingo beach, and watch the sunset over the ocean.  We spend one afternoon lounging at a funky restaurant called "Lola's" on a nearby beach, whose claim to fame is their gigantic pet pig, appropriately named Lola. 

Steph and Lola

Unfortunately, Lola, now 8 years old, was looking pretty emaciated and stiff when we saw her, but she certainly has the best life a pig can ask for!!  Dawn and Sid also cooked us some incredible meals, and we went out a few nights for dinner, drinks and live music, so we didn't really suffer! 

It was hard to tear ourselves away from Costa Rica Pet Care, as we could have obviously filled many more days with endless work.  However, we resisted Dawn's pleas, knowing that the animals will be safe in her care, and knowing that she has many veterinarians close to her that strongly support her, and boarded a bus to La Fortuna.