In 2007, I spent two weeks traveling through rural villages in Panama with a team of medical volunteers. Several locations were inaccessible to motorized vehicles, and villagers had no way or no money to provide livestock and pets with veterinary treatment. We took our donated supplies afield and inoculated animals against rabies and canine parvovirus, administered oral Ivermectin and supplementary vitamin shots, and gave all the pets medicated collars and treatment for external parasites. We owe everything to the kindness and cooperation of the local people, the generosity of our donators, and the incredibly hardworking Spay Panama team who accompanied us to several locations.
I learned that language is not a barrier, work can be done anywhere -- from narrow jungle roads to rainy mountainsides -- and how to handle difficult subjects like angry dogs, uncooperative cattle, stubborn hogs, even a bag of cats! Most importantly, we always worked with the villagers so at least a handful of residents learned how to measure and administer medication as well as we did, ensuring they had the experience and supplies to be able to continue treatments long after we left.
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