Health of Dogs and Cats in Panama

Traveling internationally with friends in search of good rivers to kayak, warm weather to thaw our frozen mountain bones, awesome tacos and cold beers while on ski bum lifestyle budgets, we became enamored with the idea that maybe we could make this into our new lifestyle some day. Don't we all dream that while traveling when everything is unicorns and rainbows?

To think we could leave our home in the mountains at 10,000 ft (3,048 m) and move to sea level, kayak all the time, and build some kind of business around our new obsession became a fun way to travel and explore countries. Trying to figure out where was fun, but how would we really know it could work? Being the brilliant people we are not, we devised a genius system to judge the feasibility of a country: health of their dogs and cost of their beer. Seems reasonable right? Straight out of business analytics 101. 

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi nailed it with this quote which I heard about 10 years ago and has stuck with me ever since. So, it turned out that Panama scored high on our list; their dogs appeared healthy and happy, and the beer delicious and cheap. Culture & economics ☑. We knew this was the place.

Pet ownership here is quite different from what we were accustomed to in the USA and nothing is perfect but people do care for their pets and this past week was a testament to exactly that.

Fortunately for our community, and Panama in general, exists an organization of dedicated veterinarians and technicians who, in many cases donate their time to sterilization clinics around the country. Their care and love of animals is inspiring and educational to everyone. They have shown others how and why caring for their pets is so meaningful and have brought affordable spay / neuter clinics on a regular basis to combat overpopulation and suffering of homeless animals. Local vets and organizations like Spay Panama, have helped be a part of sterilizing over 260,000 animals in Panama. 

This past week, was one of the most successful clinic yet in our local town, with Spay Panama. A team of 25 from the organization: 8 veterinarians along with vet techs, volunteers and her team of 12 volunteers spayed and neutered 226 cats and dogs!

We brought our little kitten Beezi to get spayed and adopted another little kitten while there - Klowy. The atmosphere at the clinic is intensely uplifting and made me feel so full of love for our little community.

To see people come together for the health and wellbeing of animals instills such a deep sense of hope and appreciation, it really helped restore some faith in humanity with animals for me.

With so much gratitude to Spay Panama, and all the loving volunteers that made this happen, thank you for being a part of making this world a better place for animals. 

Your Friends in Morrillo,

Cari and Ryan Mackey

Owners and Hosts

Morrillo Beach Eco Resort

The angels of Spay Panama arrive in this humble ride: