Strictly speaking, World Spay Day falls on the fourth Tuesday in February which would have been 23 February this year.
However here on Rarotonga we had been lashed by wind and heavy rain for about a week before the event, organised by Te Are Manu and CISPCA, so it was postponed until Wednesday 3 March.
It turned out to be a wise decision. The warm, sunny weather probably encouraged more people to take advantage of the event.
Marquees were set up behind KiteSup in Muri with areas for operations, waiting and recovery.
There was plenty of room for cars as pet owners dropped off their animals and CISPCA provided transport for owners who weren’t able to get there themselves.
Spay Day started at 8am. By 8.30am we already had three dogs and a cat ready to go and they just kept coming.
In the months since our borders closed (in March 2020) Dr Ellen McBryde has been the only vet on the island. She has had to work incredibly hard and Te Are Manu is so grateful for all she has done, as are all the pet owners and their cats and dogs (and goats). But things are looking up. Just recently vet Dr Bridget Roulston and vet nurse Parish Short have arrived from New Zealand and local Sara Nooroa has started learning the ins and outs of being a vet technician.
Of course clinic manager Debbie Topp and assistant manager Pip Henderson did an awesome job of organisation and kept things moving along smoothly.
Many other people helped make the day a huge success.
Volunteers manning various stalls, raffle donations, a fantastic lunch prepared by Island Platters, fish from Trader Don Beer and salad provided by Steve Witta at Aroa Vegeland. And of course all the caring people who brought their pets along.
Our vets completed thirty-eight desexes in the day: 14 male dogs; 11 female dogs; 7 male cats; 6 female cats.
By the way, the operations were free although donations were gratefully accepted.
Check out the Cook Islands News story about Spay Day here:
https://www.cookislandsnews.com/national/local/spay-day-event-hailed-a-success/
