It is Saturday morning and the clinic is wrapping up. I don't know the final count of dogs and cats that have been sterilized... it is all such a blur, but I do know that each and every dog and cat that has passed thru the surgery door this week will be part of the stray population solution here in Craiova, RO.
Dogs are given a pre-sedative in the lobby. Some dogs have owners, but most have been caught by an expert team who travel to various areas in and around the city. There was group of animals brought by a local shelter as well.
Once sedated, dogs/cats are brought in the the prep area where surgical areas are clipped, IV catheters, ear tags and endo-tracheal tubes are placed.
A nurse carries a newly spayed dog to the recovery area where they are kept warm, groomed and given flea and tick preventative.
In case you are reading this and wondering WHY in the world we have traveled all the way to Romania to participate in this spayathon, I thought I would post some info I got off of the RAR website to share.
The following is from http://www.romaniaanimalrescue.com
During the Communist regime of Nicolai Ceausescu, farmers were forced to move from their villages to Communist bloc housing in the city and to work in factories. He did not allow cats and dogs in public housing, so many were abandoned. Though Communism fell in 1989, the number of homeless cats and dogs living in cities and towns has reached crisis level.
Romania underwent a short-lived period of economic stability in the 1960s and 1970s during the early part of Nicolae Ceausescu's regime. In 1981, Ceausescu instituted an austerity program that resulted in severe shortages of food, electricity and consumer goods. In 1989, after antigovernment violence broke out, Ceausescu fled, but was captured, deposed and executed along with his wife. A 2006 presidential commission report estimated that under Communist rule (1945-1989) as many as 2 million people were killed or persecuted in Romania.
The economy continued to lag under the 1990 presidential election of Ion Iliescu, a former Communist party official. Price increases and food shortages led to civil unrest, and the closing of mines set off large-scale strikes and demonstrations by miners. In the 2000 elections, Iliescu again won the presidency. It was during his presidency that stray dogs and cats of Romania began to multiply in great numbers.
Before Communism, Romanians enjoyed a good relationship with their animals. Seen more as workers than pets, they shared their lives with many families in rural villages and were well cared for and never hungry. Dogs herded sheep and cattle, and cats hunted their food.
During the Communist era, family planning was not allowed. Romanians took desperate measures to prevent the births of more children. Some had to abandon their newborn babies who ended up in government run orphanages. Most families from rural villages were forced to move to cities, housed in crowded Communist bloc apartments, some with other families. Ordered by Ceausescu to leave their dogs and cats on the city streets, no animals were allowed in the small apartments.
