First Spay/Neuter Clinic of 2018

This past Thursday I held my first free clinic.  I arrived bright and early around 8 am and finished up at 5:30 pm ... spent.  Gratified but just about as tired as I am after finishing a hundie.  In those hours, my team and I "fixed" 4 cats and 8 dogs.  In addition, we vaccinated, dewormed, trimmed nails, pulled a few retained baby teeth, and applied flea/tick products.  It wasn't just all work, as our patients also got some lovin' time too!

This little fella was SO ADORABLE!

My biggest patient was 133 pounds.  Thank goodness she was not in heat!  My smallest was the little guy above at 4.5 pounds.  Everyone played nicely and I nary saw tooth or nail.

Dr. Workman, my mentor of 35 years.

The Animal Clinic is a bustling place ... organized chaos at times.  The team came together, though, and worked fluidly throughout the day, ensuring a smooth operation and TLC to all patients.  Dr. Workman, one of the owners, also donated his time in assisting me.  Sarah and Nakeya put their multi tasking skills to the test, helping me out, as well as taking care of their usual Thursday duties.  From the front office staff to the kennel help, everyone contributed to the cause.  I cannot thank them enough. 

And to you all out there in Athens, Tn and social media land.  Thanks to you I have raised $1200.  In addition, 3 major drug companies have donated more than $2000 in vaccines and flea/tick products.  With this, I am estimating that I will be able to have at least 5 more free clinic days in the future.

Rescue Racing, my new team for 2018.

I must also give a huge shout out to Anthony Hergert, the founder of Rescue Racing.  I first ran into him ... or was it that I passed him ... at the 2015 Iron Mountain 100K mountain bike race.  I remember seeing the words "spay," "neuter," adopt don't shop," and "microchip your pet" on the jersey.  And bonus points for just how cool it looked.  I told myself that I needed to hook up with this racer and see what his story was.

Anthony and I talked a bit after the race.  The team's mission was to raise awareness for spay/neuter, microchipping, and animal rescue in North Georgia.  Members joined to give, not to receive.  It was not about being entitled to deep discounts on bikes and free race entries.  It was about the members could do for those without a voice.  I was intrigued ... and a bit envious.  Little did I know that three years later, I would be on this amazing team.  And the team has since expanded from the North Georgia mountains to include almost 100 members in 10+ states!

So thanks Twan!  I may have kicked your ass on that hellacious fire road climb midway through the race , but you gave me a "kick in the pants" to pay it forward in 2018.