Neuter Commuter Clinic May 1-4

Below are updates from some of the volunteers who attended the recent clinic at Red Lake.

KAREN:

I will be reporting to all the RLRR committee and volunteers soon, but have a preliminiary count of 80 neuter/spays, and 27 dogs/pups and 25 cats kittens transported out by our wonderful volunteers to many organizations including Cause for Paws, Pet Haven (Both cats and dogs), Animal Ark, MARS, St. Francis of Assissi, and 7 pups to AHS. J took one small dog hit by car to receive medical treatment in the metro.

DD:

The Animal Ark veterinarian, Dr. Charlie, along with Mallory (vet tech) and Mary Salter neutered and spayed 80 animals; removed 1 damaged eye from a puppy; helped a dog who was having labor difficulties; examined and treated a gunshot wound, and treated a foot injured by a snare or ? A total of 52 animals were placed in rescue - 27 puppies/dogs and 25 kittens/cats.

Thank you to all of the volunteers who traveled north to help, and transported animals to the cities. Thanks to C for making loads of wonderful food - lasagnas, vegetable casseroles, asian noodle dishes, fried rice and more. Thanks to K for supplying delicious soups, bread, sweets and other munchies and to T who not only brought groceries, but also did food pick-ups and transport, as well.

Thanks to D who obtained a laptop for Rosie's so that we can create a database of people who come to clinics along with their animals' vaccinations, surgery, etc., and to K who created the excel spreadsheet for it.

Thanks again to everyone who helped support the clinic. We are making steady progress towards curbing the pet overpopulation at Red Lake.

COLLEEN:

Hi everyone- well I'm back from the Red Lake weekend--
once again it was fun but a great deal of work.
Animal Ark had been there a few days before we got there
on Friday nite so they were in full swing.

On Sat. 3 of us went with Karen to "pick up" animals
that people had said it was ok to spay and neuter. We also stopped
and picked up 9 kittens and 2 mother cats at a house
that had a FREE KITTEN sign on the front drive.
The next day we stopped at a free puppy sign and got the
last two of a litter. It is so sad to think of what would have
happened to these babies if we hadn't gotten them.

The drive through RED LAKE and REDBY on the way to the
clinic- was proof positive that we are making a difference. At first
glance there was only one dead puppy on the side of the
road. Over the next 3 days coming from different angles
we saw more- but the top count I had was 6. While that is 6
too many, it is a huge improvement over the beginning of this
journey.

There were many folks who came to the clinic with their animals
that were truly grateful for the help and you could tell they
really cared about their animals.
The folks who are bad for, neglectful of and downright abusive to
their animals are definately out there, but they do not account for
all of the people of Red Lake.
Just to tell you- there was a couple who stopped for an injured
wild rabbit that was on the road and they even brought that
little guy in for help. While the ARK folks we're too involved in
surgeries to help- there was a woman volunteer up there who
was quite knowledgeable about rabbits and she helped these
folks with information so they could take the rabbit home
and hopefully rehab him for eventual release.
I feel this is just the beginning-- of helping folks in that area
realize that compassion is positive and that it deserves to
spread in all directions.