I have seen few stray animals in El Valle, mainly due to the efforts of spaypanama.org. Yesterday and today, their sterilization road show came to town and set up at the primary school, a yearly event since at least 2012. Locals brought their pet dogs and cats – about 300 all told.
It took about an hour for each animal to go through the procedure. From what I saw and heard, few of them were stressed (other than being dopey from the anaesthetic). It was impressively orderly. Here is how it went down.
Coordination Commission
“Venue Operations” indeed.
Local volunteers were mostly students and fire fighters. They had more head count than needed!
International Technical Officials. These two veterinary school students from Saskatchewan were volunteering with Spay Panama for two weeks.
Arrivals were orderly and everyone behaved. The dogs also.
Accreditation. Everyone got field-of-play access.
DRM (dog registration meeting) and weigh-in under way.
Performance enhancement was mandatory.
FF&E (Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment) ready to go.
Uniform inspection and standardization.
An efficient transportation system. Everyone got T1 service!
One of the best things about having time, is taking your
time. No need to power through everything El Valle has to offer, straight away.
So for two weeks, on my way to and from town, I’ve bypassed the entrance to a
path in the jungle just five minutes from the casa.
The trail is called El
Pastoreo – Google translates this as
“grazing” but I figure it’s the pasture. I did not research it online, or ask
anyone else about it. I went to see what there is to see.
Pastoreo got scrambly right quick. Plant your feet on slimy brown leaves, grab a vine or branch, step up, repeat. And then, out of the shadowy vegetation, you emerge onto a sunlit grassland. The trail, barely a foot wide, got steeper still and I gulped humid O2 until I reached the top of the ridge.
Cloud armadas gathered for battle in the blue sky. Around
and opposite, dense, disorderly green cliffs. Below, scattered among the trees
and fields, the town’s orange clay roof tiled roofs.
A view of the casa from Pastoreo.
I sat, sweated and listened. Wind shoving the long blades
of grass. Caustic jabber of wild parakeets, buzz of cicadas, chirp of frogs.
From the fincas in the valley, a
zealous rooster worked overtime along with the gardeners and their
weedwhackers.
