Why don't you ask Operation Potcake and Animal Balance to release their financial statements for the spay/neuter 2013 project. In fact I am asking now: May we please see financial statements for Operation Potcake/Animal Balance including the list of donors with amounts? [I was one of those donors]. It is time for the general public to be informed of the trust cost of surgery. There is no such thing as a free spay or neuter, somebody has to pay [or donate].

I, too, have lived in several countries and have interacted with veterinarians in each one. I have come across good and not-so-good vets in each country as well. To paint all veterinarians in The Bahamas with the same brush is ignorant and unfair. The average animal lover may know something about animals, but that sort of knowledge cannot be compared to medical school training.

Your understanding of the financing of spay/neuter projects in The Bahamas is lacking. Please see the explanation in my post below. As someone who has contributed financially to several spay/neuter projects in The Bahamas, including Operation Potcake, I feel that it needs to be explained to the general public...

Please see my post below for the answer to your query.

Please see my post below which explains, inter alia, how the Operation Potcake materials were paid for.

Actually, there is no such thing as a FREE spay or neuter. Local and foreign vets may charge nothing for their time and expertise [as they did in Operation Potcake], but the surgical material must be paid for - either through donations, or, by the vets themselves. Please see my post below for a more detailed explanation.

Last year during Operation Potcake both local and foreign vets volunteered their time free of charge. No vet was paid for his or her participation. In addition, all surgical material used for the spays/neuters was supplied to the participating vets for their use. These supplies which cost approximately $50.00 per animal were bought with funds raised locally.

There is no such thing as a free spay [or neuter]. a spay [or neuter] may be performed at no cost to the owner, but the materials used have to be purchased - whether with funds raised through contributions, or by the vets purchasing them from their suppliers.

The following question was posed in a Tribune 242 survey today:

"Operation Potcake has been cancelled following opposition from local vets. How do you think the spay and neuter programme should be run?"

The options were:

"As they did last year, foreign volunteers should be allowed to operate for free"

or

"Local vets should undertake the project at a cost of $50 per surgery"

Unfortunately, the premise of this question is incorrect.

Neither the first option, nor the second is a true statement.

The correct choice of options should have been:

As they did last year, local and foreign veterinarians and their staffs providing their services free of charge and being supplied with all necessary surgical material paid for with funds raised locally, at a cost of $50.00 per animal?

or

Local veterinarians and their staff providing their services free of charge, and being reimbursed for all surgical material which they supply and use for the spays and neuters at a cost of $50.00 per animal?

In each case, the cost per animal is $50.00.

The mistaken idea that the foreign vets' surgeries are free is ridiculous: All surgery must be paid for.

Foreign vets are coming into a situation to assist the local veterinarians and everything that they need is provided. When local vets carry out spay/neuter projects within the islands of The Bahamas they purchase and take along their own supplies.

Unfortunately veterinarians in The Bahamas get a bum rap. This may be because they do not go around tooting their own horns and, perhaps, because few people know how much pro bono work they actually do.

I have never seen any other medical school graduate [in The Bahamas] treated with such disrespect and it is in stark contrast to the way that veterinarians are revered in other countries. I have never experienced the way [my fellow] lay people and animal lovers feel that they are as qualified [to make decisions concerning animal welfare] as a veterinarian who has been through years of medical school.

As lay people we should be embarrassed by our own behaviour and comments; we would never dream of disrespecting our physicians in this manner.

Learn more about a topic before you vent, there are always at least two sides to every story.

Unfortunately, the premise of this question is incorrect.

Neither the first statement: "As they did last year, foreign volunteers should be allowed to operate for free"; nor the second: "Local vets should undertake the project at a cost of $50 per surgery" is a true statement.

First of all, last year both local and foreign vets volunteered their time free of charge. No vet was paid for his or her participation. Secondly, last year all the surgical material used for the spays/neuters was supplied to the participating vets for their use. These supplies which cost approximately $50.00 per animal were bought with funds raised locally.

There is no such thing as a free spay [or neuter]. a spay [or neuter] may be performed at no cost to the owner, but the materials used have to be purchased - whether with funds raised through contributions, or by the vets purchasing them from their suppliers.

The question posed was: "Operation Potcake has been cancelled following opposition from local vets. How do you think the spay and neuter programme should be run?"

The correct choice of options should have been:

As they did last year, local and foreign veterinarians and their staffs providing their services free of charge and being supplied with all necessary surgical material paid for with funds raised locally at a cost of $50.00 per animal?

OR

Local veterinarians and their staff providing their services free of charge, but being reimbursed for all surgical material which they supply and use for the spays and neuters at a cost of $50.00 per animal?

In each case, the cost per animal is $50.00.

The mistaken idea that the foreign vets' surgeries are free is ridiculous. They are coming into a situation to assist the local veterinarians and everything that they need is provided. When local vets carry out spay/neuter projects throughout The Bahamas they take along their own supplies.

Unfortunately veterinarians in The Bahamas get a bum rap. This may be because they do not go around tooting their own horns and also because few people know how much pro bono work they actually do.

No other medical school graduate is treated with such disrespect in The Bahamas, and it is in stark contrast to the way that they are revered in other countries. I have never experienced the the way my fellow lay people and animal lovers feel that they are as qualified to make decisions regarding animal welfare as a veterinarian who has been through years of medical school.

As lay people we should be embarrassed by our own behavior and comments. We would never dream about disrespecting our physicians in this manner.

Learn more about a topic before you vent, there are always at least two sides to every story.