Last Day in Todos Santos

It`s our last day in Todos Santos - hard to believe! It's a gorgeous sunny day here in the mountains. It`s passed by very fast. Marjo and I arrived in Guatemala almost 3 weeks ago. It`s amazing how quickly we fell back into the routine. Things that I noticed last year (like the barking dogs and the roosters and pig noises all night long) are just familiar backgound sounds now.

We finished our last spay clinics yesterday. As Kate mentioned it`s very very cold in the AM and even once we heat the room enough to start, it's still cold and a challenge to keep the patients warm. When we surgically open their bellies, we see steam rising from the belly, something we never see in the OR at home. The focus is to be quick and careful with the spays so that we don`t have complications after. If the dogs aren't eating or comfortable the next day or even that night, we recheck them at their homes.

A Todos Santos take on a "Pet Kaddy"

Pila keeps warm during the cold AM hours

We had a couple of cancellations because one community is worried that their dogs are being poisoned and they took their dogs away to Las Ventosas for a couple of weeks to keep them safe. Unfortunately last night we got a call from a woman to say there was a poisoned dog in the street. Kate and Marjo grabbed some drugs and supplies and headed out there. The dog was convulsing and too far gone to save so he was humanely euthanized. We need to talk to the municipality to try and find out who is doing this - but we may never know who.

We've split up into groups of 2 today to do our final housecalls and rechecks. There are a few dogs that are too aggressive or lame to bring into the clinics so we're going to their houses to vaccinate them. This morning Anne Marie and I were a team and we got to try and vaccinate Hueso - our escape artist from last year. She's much the same so once the family had her in the small storage room we just quickly vaccinated her - no chance for a full physical but she`s in good condition and eating well. We also vaccinated the lame old dog from the hostel we are staying all. We'll also leave some pain meds for his arthritis. Same with Marcel, a lame old dog that lives near the old Hispanomayan School.

We`ve accumulated quite a little pack of dogs that hang around us, looking for food but also very happy for the attention. Walking down the main street towards our spay clinics this week we often had a retinue of Nosey, Bobbi, Marcel and now Pila, the little puppy that Anne Marie and Kate rescued. She`s is proving amazingly resilient and becoming less afraid and more puppy-like everyday.

Pila enjoys a break behind the Los Pablos clinic

Andres takes a stint walking Pila

I'm finding it quite amazing how much attention Pila is getting. Many times a day people will stop me and ask me her name and whether she is "macho o hembra", a boy or a girl. They seem quite taken by her which I find surprising given how many dogs - and puppies - there are around. Many times a day I`ll hear "Pila? Como esta Pila?" and look up to see a kid hanging out a window asking how Pila is doing.

2 Todos Santeran children want a photo with Pila.

Pila is booked on my flight and now all I have to do is find the right-sized carrier to bring her home in. I think she'll adapt well to life on the West Coast of Canada.

Todos Santos prepares for Christmas

and the team prepares to head home.