A.H.P.P.A. Hours

The animal shelter hours for the A.H.P.P.A. Refugio including our services have been changed as outlined below. Please check this periodically as we are currently testing for the most effective hours of operation to serve the needs of the animals and/or their owners, including new and prospective pet owners to be.

Links are included on this page for more details related to our services.

Vet Clinic Services and Consultations

Our team of veterinarians is available during the week for consultations, vet services, including spay and neuter surgeries, and emergency care.

Monday – Friday: 9 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Saturdays: 9:00 am – 3:00 p.m.

Sunday: Not available

Animal Adoptions

Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Saturdays: 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

*Sundays: 2^nd and 4^th Sunday of each month only

*Sunday Hours: 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

If you have any questions please contact us.

Pet Store

The Refugio’s on-site pet store carries everything for the well-being of your pet from beds, to foods, bowls, cute little outfits, treats and toys…lots!  All proceeds from products purchased at our store benefit the animals under our care.

Garage Sale

Garage Sale

Our on-site garage sale is now open on Saturdays: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. Please stop in and see what treasures are to be discovered. The garage sale is located directly across from the Pet Store at our entrance. We are always in need of quality donations, which can be left at our Pet Store.

FOUND: San Rafael de Heredia Area

Jan 30 2012 – This sweet and small, young female dog was found between San Rafael and Concepcion (probably near Licorera Camachoin) in the vicinity of the Refugio.  If you are the owner or know who the owner is, please contact us here through the website.  The kind people who are caring for her, will do so until approximately Feb 8th.  After that they will seek an adoption for her.

Videos have been posted on our Facebook page: see Oscar Blanco’s or contact him directly.

Thank you, Oscar for your help.

If you have lost or find a pet, please ask your neighbors if they have seen your pet; having a photo of the animal will help. We also suggest making a poster/flyer with the photo and your phone number; Post the flyers all around the area where the animal was last seen.

Please contact us and provide the detailed information as outlined on our lost and founds pets page.  We will post the information on our website’s blog and if you are not on Facebook, we can post there for you as well.

You must use our contact form to submit your lost or found pet information.

Thank you and we truly hope you and your pet are reunited soon.

Cesar Millan Costa Rica: AHPPA Selling Tickets

By now most of you have probably heard that Cesar Millan, the famous Dog Whisperer (aka el Encantador de Perros) will be making his first-ever appearance in Latin America at the Estadio Nacional on Saturday, January 28 at 8:00 p.m. here in Costa Rica!

Working in cooperation with the event promoter, RPMTV/Xtreme Family Entertainment, AHPPA has negotiated the opportunity to sell tickets to our friends and supporters and retain a portion of the proceeds to help fund our spay and neuter programs. 

What a great, fun way to increase understanding and awareness of animal welfare!

Here’s how it works:

• Review the seating chart of the Estadio Nacional and identify the section in which you wish to sit (tickets prices are on the far right).
• Pay for your ticket no later than Monday, January 23.

• To purchase your tickets come to the Pet Shop at the Refugio de Animales (AHPPA) in San Rafael de Heredia or telephone 2267-7158 or 2267-6374 or email Lilian at  spaycostarica@yahoo.com.

• Tickets will be distributed at the Pet Shop at the Refugio beginning Thursday, January 26 and must be picked up no later than Friday, January 27; if you have trouble getting to the Pet Shop call us at the above numbers and we will discuss options.

You do have the option of purchasing tickets online through www.laboleteria.com and can receive a discount using your BNCR card however if you want to support AHPPA we encourage you to purchase through us directly.  Note that no ticketing service fee (¢1,500 per ticket) will be charged if you purchase through AHPPA.

If you cannot attend, consider purchasing a ticket or group of tickets for people in the community who are not able to afford them. This is a fabulous way to further our education efforts. You may specify the distribution or we will distribute tickets appropriately and let you know who your beneficiary is.

We hope to be able to offer additional opportunities and promotions so please visit our Facebook page for updates: Animal Shelter Costa Rica A.H.P.P.A.  For more information about the Cesar Millan show and the ExpoMascota earlier the same day go to www.rpmtv.co.cr.  For more information on how to purchase tickets call us 2267-7158 or 2267-6374 or email Lilian at  spaycostarica@yahoo.com.

As always we appreciate your support.

Start spreading the news!

Working in veterinary medicine requires a great deal of patience.  Not only do our patients understand very little of the languages we speak to them, when they understand our intentions they often do all they can to thwart them.

In my career you are almost guaranteed to be scratched, bitten and covered in just about every possible bodily fluid by your patients.  And despite being oftentimes demeaning and almost certainly disgusting, there is some joy in knowing that a calm demeanor and tolerant behavior can often get you through the day without having a dog express its anal glands all over you.

The same cannot always be said of the clients.  Pet owners can often be alluded to parents of a child in a pediatric intensive care unit.  They are often more afraid than the patient itself, even more so when their “babies” are unwell or being operated on.

The spay-neuter veterinary clinics AHPPA holds in rural villages across Costa Rica always draw large crowds – entire families accompany their pets to join in the experience.  Even male street dogs come in willingly, drawn by the excitement of large groups of female dogs.  “The first volunteer of the day!” my colleague declared, holding up a local street dog that had wandered into our mobile veterinary clinic, interested in a sedated (and quite vulnerable!) Boxer in heat.  You always catch more flies with honey!

Because we set up our spay-neuter clinic in very public places to attract attention ensuring as many animals are sterilized as possible, we often must deal with the crowds that gather around the operating tables.  Not only does this require a degree of diplomacy and professionalism, but one must be an exceptional multi-tasker to manage the situation.

While simultaneously operating and monitoring anesthesia we must also answer the long list of questions coming from the group and offer assistance to the occasional few who faint at the sight of a dog’s open abdomen.  In addition to this, we often must work while receiving “constructive” criticism from the audience.

Within seconds of seeing surgery many worried owners become accomplished anesthesiologists, specialists in reproductive medicine and confident surgeons.

However, when not terrifying owners who insist on standing over your shoulder with the realities of field veterinary surgery you come across little things that make you smile.

A father held up his 4 year-old son so he could watch me prepare a dog to be spayed.  As I scrubbed the dog’s abdomen, the little boy declared incredulously to his father, “I had no idea, Papa, no idea that dog’s have boobies.  No idea!”  I chuckled to myself as I began the operation.  The boy stared as I incised the dog’s abdomen.  “We’d better go, Papa.  It looks like the Gringa is about to kill the dog.”  Never has my self-esteem been so swiftly and effectively crushed by a 4 year-old.

People often think that as vets we spend our days solely with animals; on the contrary, the majority of our jobs involve working with people.  And while I may feel my patience tested from time to time, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing a patient recovered and well taken home by its loving family.  To know that we made a difference that day, in the lives of the animals and in the community, is enough to beat even the harshest of 4 year-old critics.

Submitted by AHPPA veterinary volunteer working with our Spay-Neuter Outreach Program.

Shelter Improvements

You may have visited our animal shelter or seen photos posted on our Facebook page or within this website and noticed the deteriorated cage doors of our dog shelter facility.  Over the years, the climate and exposure to the elements have rusted the metal wire cages and its time to update them.

Our primary concern is for the safety of the dogs because as metal rusts, the strength factor is weakened. The last thing we want to happen is that of a dog either badly scratching his or herself on rough, rusted metal or have the containment of the dogs compromised.

To remove the old and have new metal doors outfitted, this cage door project is not cheap, even here in Costa Rica.  There are 28 metal cage doors in need of replacement and the lowest price we have been given to change them out is equivalent to $2,500 USD.  Our hope is that people who want to help animals in Costa Rica will participate in our Friends of Refugio Fundraiser for 2012. Your one time donation or a monthly gift will greatly assist in attending to the quality of the dog’s shelter.

When the animal shelter of Costa Rica in San Rafael de Heredia began 20 years ago, it was nothing close to what it is now. In fact, its name was simply: Animal Shelter of Costa Rica. It was a sad state, not really a shelter but rather a small wooden hovel where people who loved animals and found them suffering could bring them somehwere. The owner at that time, Valery Burger Spiess, was an animal lover herself, but simply not equipped to handle the growing number of homeless or unwanted animals. She did her best, and because of her caring, at least there was somewhere these animals could be basically tended to with care and food.

In 1991 a volunteer of that humble facility, Lilian Schnog, decided she could help the animals with a much-improved facility. Upon purchasing the property from WSPA, she went to work to get the proper permits and raised funds to build a better dog shelter.  Over the past twenty years, Lilian has been instrumental in working to build a full-fledged animal clinic at the shelter.

Thanks to supporters and other organizations outside of the country, the A.H.P.P.A. as it is legally known, became the first true animal shelter in Costa Rica. And more recently has acquired its 501-c3 non-profit status as an animal shelter, making donations for US taxpayers, deductible.

“Nothing happens, however, without the support of people,” insists Lilian. She and her team know that without the support through donations and grants offered, the Refugio wouldn’t be where it is today. And the animals have benefited over the past twenty years under her watchful and caring eye as director.

Today, the need to help animals is about the metal cage door replacements for our dog shelter. If you want to help, please do consider a donation to our Friends of Refugio 2012 fundraiser.  With your support and our continual work, together we make a huge difference…for the animals!

Dr. Abi O’Connor BVM&S, MRCVS

Dog Leg Injuries

Driving through the streets of San Jose on my way to the Refugio is a daily adventure, and by “adventure” I mean a fear-filled journey through death trap streets full of dangerous drivers and equally dangerous potholes!  Drivers run red lights only to aggressively push their way forward turning two-lane roads into three-and-a-half-lane streets.  Car horns are used as warnings, signals, greetings, thanks or simply to fill the temporary silence.  It is in this hectic cacophony of noise and Latin tempers that street dogs and cats go unseen. 

Limping dogs and cats in the calle (street) bear testimony to the recklessness of San Jose drivers.  Costa Rica holds the grim title of the world’s highest auto fatality rate (18 deaths per 100,000 km, compared to 2.7 deaths per 100,000 km in the USA) – and this just accounts for human fatalities!  Countless more animals are killed in the streets of San Jose, unnoticed or quickly forgotten hit-and-runs leaving dogs and cats bleeding by the roadside.

The survivors of road accidents are left in the streets, either to be taken to a clinic for treatment or to pick themselves up and recover as best they can.  We often see the grizzly remains of road traffic accidents at the Refugio – shattered bones, destroyed limbs, ruptured diaphragms, head trauma, avulsed tongues, internal and external bleeding…the list is endless.

We do our best to treat the treatable and ease the passing for those beyond repair.  For those that pull through the critical stages and stabilize we are left to pick up the pieces and repair their broken parts.

Broken Canine Femur

This is where orthopedic surgery comes into play.  “Orthopedics” (literally translated from Greek to “straighten the child”) was first described in 18^th century France by Nicholas Andry and used to prevent or repair bone deformities in children.  Orthopedic surgery has since come on leaps and bounds but the concept remains the same: straighten the bones.

Last Friday – Black Friday – 5 dogs that had been hit by cars were brought to the shelter.  One had a broken forelimb, another a shattered pelvis, the others fractured femurs.  I was once told that to break the average dog’s femur, the vehicle must travel faster than 30 mph just before impact.  Given my experience with drivers in Costa Rica and seeing the extent of the fractures assured me whatever hit these dogs was travelling well over the speed limit.

We work to set and stabilize the broken bones as best we can.  Using materials best used only for carpentry (surgical grade orthopedic materials being beyond a shelter’s budget) we perform lengthy, painful procedures to ensure the broken limbs will one day be functional again.

Remarkably, the bones straighten and heal.  The legs bear weight though often give way to a slight limp.  However, there are some wounds you can’t treat, some pains run too deep.

Firu

A good friend of mine adopted a dog several months ago from the Refugio. Firu, a small brown Costa Rican street dog, had been hit by a car that had broken and dislocated his femur. Although the shelter repaired his bodily injuries, little can be done to remove the memory of his trauma. I watch Firu halt and visibly tremble when he hears trucks approaching. Despite numerous occasions in cars, Firu spends his car rides cowering in the same type of vehicle that left his leg atrophied and infirm. Despite months passing and limitless love showered on him by his wonderful adoptive family, Firu remains afraid. 

Often in my profession we are nothing more than carpenters.  We can only realign the bones – it is up to the animals to heal.

The cost to treat dog leg injuries does not come cheaply; A.H.P.P.A. animal shelter in Costa Rica needs help with the expense of surgery materials, medications and food.  Your monthly or single donation can make a difference. Visit our donations page to give what ever amount you can afford. And thank you, on behalf of the animals in Costa Rica.

by Attending Veterinarian, Dr. Abi O’Connor BVM&S, MRCVS

AHPPA Serves Tortuguero

When I applied for vet school I could never have imagined that my future career as a veterinarian would take me to the far corners of the world, beyond the public’s reach. 

As I found myself loading a box of surgical instruments into a speed boat, ready to race through jungle rivers to the Caribbean town of Tortuguero, I couldn’t help but get excited at the prospect of adventure.  I was about to embark on a three day journey to offer spay and neuter services in one of Costa Rica’s best kept secrets.

This week our mobile spay and neuter clinic led us to the isolated town of Tortuguero.  Only reachable by boat or plane, Tortuguero is surrounded the Caribbean Sea and intertwining canals and rivers.  Its isolated location and vast expanse of flat beach makes it a prime sea turtle nesting site, with thousands of Green, Leatherback and Loggerhead sea turtles hatching on the beach every year.

Tourists caught wind of this natural phenomenon not too long ago, leading to the development of resort hotels and sea turtle guided tours.  As seen in any competitive market, the “tour guides” try to outdo one another, ensuring the tourists always get to see sea turtle hatchings while on their holiday.  Nest sites are dug up by “tour guides” forcing the baby turtles to hatch before Mother Nature intended.  These immature and weak sea turtle hatchlings must then withstand tourists flashing their cameras in their faces, disorientating them as they struggle to crawl to sea through the deep footprints the tourists leave in the sand.  And we wonder why sea turtle populations are diminishing!

However, mankind is not the only threat to the baby sea turtles.  Stray dogs are seen trolling the beaches of Tortuguero at night, digging up existing nests to eat the eggs and hatchlings.  I met some of these perpetrators myself, pointed out to me by the children of Tortuguero during our spay/neuter clinic.

My colleagues and I discussed this issue with the volunteers of the sea turtle sanctuary in town.  Little can be done to keep the street dogs off the beach; 18,000 km of uninterrupted strand cannot easily be fenced in!  The most practical and humane solution to the problem is to host regular clinics to control the expanding dog and cat populations.

 The dogs and cats of Tortuguero are very much like the children of the pueblo – everyone has an owner, but they live their lives travelling in small packs in the streets.  All are very well-behaved and friendly, always curious as to what you’re doing and what you have to offer.

My colleagues and I make a point of including the town’s children when we hold the spay/neuter clinic with the hope that allowing them to watch the surgeries and educating them in their pet’s care will organically create a greater awareness and appreciation of animal welfare.  I oftentimes find this to be the most fascinating and educational aspect of the mobile clinic.  Adults may be more knowledgeable than children, but children are definitely smarter than us.

I spoke for a long time with a barefoot 11 year-old boy named Roddick, his legs

Fannie & Roddick

covered in scars from countless insect bites.  Roddick lived in a two-room house; one room was a kitchen/living room/parents’ bedroom, the other being the bathroom/kids’ bedroom.  Roddick shared a mattress on the floor of the bathroom with 3 brothers – 2 of his siblings had died during infancy due to illness.

Roddick asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I told him that I’d already grown up and that I’d decided to become a veterinarian.  He asked me if I was happy with my decision.  I replied that I was very happy with the work I am doing, that I felt like I was part of something special that mattered.  He told me he hoped he could do something important someday too.  Roddick wants to be a marine biologist and work in conservation medicine.  I felt tears well up in my eyes; seeing such a mature young man have such great dreams in the face of profound poverty made me wonder at the injustice of his situation.

It is easy to miss just how poor many Costa Ricans are.  Because of the beautiful landscape and excellent infrastructure the extent of the country’s poverty is often overlooked.  I hear the occasional tourist remark, “Oh, how sad,” when an emaciated dog trots past them, interrupting their walk to their resort hotel.  If we don’t take pause and stop from time to time to experience the life around us how can we ever learn to appreciate just how fortunate we are?

That weekend we sterilized 40 dogs and cats and treated twice as many with anti-parasitic medication.  As our boat pulled offshore I looked over my shoulder to see barefoot children playing in the street with the dogs we had neutered the day before.  I thought back to Roddick’s question: “Are you happy you became a vet?” 

Absolutely.

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In order to keep up with the huge need for low-cost spay and neuter services to poor, remote areas throughout Costa Rica, AHPPA needs your help. Please click on our secure DONATIONS page to help the animals in Costa Rica. Thank you!

Tila: Lost Dog Orotina

UPDATE: Tila has been reunited with her owners!

On Saturday Nov 12th, Tila became a lost dog. She went missing in Orotina. Her family is asking for your help. If you have seen a dog that looks like this photo of  Tila, wandering around, please call Carolina at 8887-2877 as soon as possible.

Tila is a black labrador, possibly a mix. We don’t have her weight or age but Labradors are usually fairly larger dogs and their temperament is gentle, friendly and fun-loving with lots of energy.

If you have ever lost a dog or any pet you know what a heart wrenching experience this is. You worry and worry and at the same time keep hope that the pet will return.  We recommend putting up flyers with a picture of the lost dog or animal in the community or town where he or she went missing. Tell all your neighbors. Post on Facebook and websites. Go to your local vet or animal shelter with the flyers, describing the lost dog.

Our paws are crossed in hopes that someone will see or find this sweet lost dog, Tila, and will contact Carolina to reunite them soon.  Please keep us posted or visit our Facebook page if you have seen Tila!

A.H.P.P.A. ~ Animal Shelter Costa Rica

If you or your family or a friend have lost a pet, please visit our lost and found pets page with instructions on how and what to submit to us so we can help by placing the photo and information here on our blog.

Blanche Brown’s Art and Garage Sale including art that Blanche had collected from around the world will be available for sale this weekend.  House is to be rented so everything must go!

Dates: Sat and Sun Nov 12th and 13th

Times: 9am – 4pm

Location: Blanche’s home in  Bella Horizonte, Puente Anonos (1st entrance to Bello Horizonte at Ferrereteria)

Directions: 300 meters South by Palo de Mago; 300 meters West of White house; terracotta trim and directly across from Urbanizacion Suiza.

Contact: Blanche’s niece, Terra at 2228-0998

by Attending Veterinarian, Dr. Abi O’Connor BVM&S, MRCVS

I stood in the classroom, our temporary clinic for providing animal services, reading the colorful posters on the wall aloud, “Antes de cenar, nos lavamos las manos.”

One of my colleagues called over to me, “Abi!  Why don’t you put your surgical table facing the wall so you can work on your pronunciation?”  (Smart aleck!).

This week our mobile spay and neuter clinic led us to a small elementary school in Puntarenas, a sultry Pacific coastal town as colorful as it is hot.  As we set up our surgical instruments and supplies to perform our animal services on desks belonging to 4 foot tall children named, “Marta” and “Pablo” I began to wonder, “What am I doing here?”  I peeked my head out the classroom door and looked up and down the long line of anxious owners (and equally anxious pets!) to remind myself of what was to come.

Once again, the familiar animal services assembly line was formed – a well-oiled, efficient system that enables 3 vets to get through nearly 100 spay and neuter procedures in a single day.  Sedate, induce, sterilize, recover.  Like practicing scales on the piano, the entire process becomes that of motor memory, our hands going through the familiar motions to complete the task.

However, like most things in life, you get a curve ball from time to time – often when you least expect it.  As we trundled on through the numerous dogs and cats, one of the school teachers involved in coordinating the event pulled a white rabbit out of a box and asked, “Do you do rabbits as well?”  My colleagues and I looked at each other and replied, “Why not?”

While the classroom pet rabbit received his rather delicate procedure, I came across an upsetting case.  A thin, brindle mixed-breed dog presented for castration.  Upon examination we found evidence of a transmissible venereal tumor on the dog’s penis, a sexually-transmitted tumor resulting in difficulty and pain upon urination.  While prognosis following chemotherapy is very good, due to lack of resources and availability of drugs, dogs in Costa Rica are generally euthanized to prevent further suffering through this painful and progressive disease.

After explaining the nature of the disease to the dog’s owner, it was decided to go through with the castration as the tumor was not very advanced and the dog could live a full, relatively pain-free life for the time being.  When we finished the procedure, we looked for the owner who was nowhere to be found.  After the dog recovered, we tied him to a post where he waited to be taken home.  His owner never came back.

For many Costa Ricans owning a sick or disabled pet is an undesirable thing.  While this particular brindle dog was taken home that night by one of the school teachers, dogs and cats all over the country wear their battle scars with pride.  Limping dogs hop on atrophied legs after cars break their bones.  Street cats missing eyes hunt birds and mice for their next meal.  All the while, these animals carry their burdens with humility and grace.

My friend once told me that if shelter dogs and cats were people they would be the wise ones, the ones who had lived and survived despite all the odds being against them.  They would not be the cast-offs of society, but the fascinating and inspirational ones with the best stories to tell.

I think we as people have a lot to learn from shelter animals.  Dogs and cats recover from injury and live with disability in a positive and noble way, too often without the benefit of receiving veterinary animal services.  They are able to open themselves to love and trust again after insufferable abuse and abandonment.  They respond with courage after being dealt a bad hand.  If you bring a shelter dog or cat into your home, you open yourself to the innumerable gifts they have to offer.

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A.H.P.P.A. depends on the donations to help keep our animal services available to those in need. Can you help?