Baker Lake, Nunavut – DAY 11

Our surgery clinic is dismantled, our vaccine clinic is all cleaned up.  

Team Baker Lake 2010

We all enjoyed a leisurely start to our day, very aware that it’s our last real day in Baker Lake as we fly out tomorrow.  Since we don’t have any work scheduled for today – but we do have about 50 left over hotdogs from yesterday’s Puppy Parade – most of the team headed out for a walk around the hamlet to share the hotdog bounty with the dogs.  It was easy to spot all of the pets we had spayed and neutered by the shaved patches on their front legs from their IV catheter placement, so most of them got a free recheck!  We are very happy to report that everyone is doing great.  Hopefully we didn’t cause a hamlet-wide rash of hotdog-induced diarrhea! 

This morning was also sad because we performed two euthanasias.  As everyone who has experienced this either from the side of a pet owner or as part of the veterinary team, knows how difficult it is.  While it is very sad, we can take comfort in knowing that our team was here to make sure that these pets had a caring and pain-free passing. 

Donna and Corrine got to spend a few hours this afternoon out on ATVs on the tundra with Sue as their personal tour guide.

Jen and Cynthia

The rest of the team arrived at Sue’s house for a farewell party later in the afternoon.  But we couldn’t be done just yet!  Gina, Laura and Corrine had to leave for a bit to go out to vaccinate and deworm one last sled team that we hadn’t be able to get to before.  Everyone in the community knows we were staying with Sue, and I guess word got out to a few more people that we were leaving the next day… TWO different people come over to Sue’s to see if we could still vaccinate their dogs!  Good thing we had some supplies still at Sue’s!  So our last two vaccines were done in her garage!   

Bill and Laura

Our new best friend Bill was there with party favours and his wife Andrea joined us later in the evening.   We started the evening out with a relatively tame game of “spoons..”  but – as it seems to with most games in this group – it quickly escalated into an olympic-level sport!  Cards and spoons and dirty looks flying, but only a few minor injurys were sustained!   

Elaine, Monica and Zoe

Barb and Corrine have to leave early in the morning, so they had to go to bed early.  I’m not sure how much sleep they actually got while the rest of the team was still partying, but they did try.  Sue has to work tomorrow, so she won’t be able to come see us off.  It was hard to leave. 

The first of the “goodbyes” are done… and they weren’t easy.  Even more to come tomorrow.