So much happened leading up to, during and after the campaign, it took me a while to be able recover (haha!) AND get all of the exciting pup-dates on the dogs!
What Ill be doing over the next few weeks is sharing stories from the campaign, introducing you to the volunteers and what roles they had during the campaign and updating you on all the dogs who were here at my house! It is quite a bit to cover, so I will do it spread out over a few posts.
First, thank you to EVERYONE who helped make this campaign such a huge success. Because of your donations of cash and supplies we were able to spay and neuter 303 dogs and cats in ONLY 3 days!!!! The community turn out was overwhelming! On the second night, people were sleeping over night outside of the school to guarantee themselves a spot. Thankfully, Marco, the security guard who works around the corner from me was available and he worked security overnight at the school and kept a good eye on them.
The volunteers brought down with them OVER 2000lbs of supplies and crates for the campaign! It was AMAZING!!!
Only 4 bags of reuseable supplies and some left over supplies made it back to my house. THAT is amazing!! We ran out of leashes on the first day alone! It was so wonderful to have so much to give to the owners for their animals.
Now, To some of our volunteers!!!
First up…. Emilija and Alan! In this photo, Emilija and Alan are picking up Huggie off the street in Corales. Huggie was really sick. She has TVT, (a highly contagious but very treatable cancer) and pyometra (a bad infection in her uterus that would have killed her). She is currently at Dr. Luis’ clinic here in Cancun and is a totally different dog already!!! Huggie did have an owner, and she came to see Huggie during the campaign but asked if we could please keep her and get her treated and a home as she cannot manage. Of course, the answer was yes.
Alan was my left hand man! This guy was an outstanding support to me during the campaign. I was so incredibly lucky to have him down here. He came down a little bit earlier than the other volunteers so he was already pretty well acquainted with the area and where everyone was going. Also, he kept me going during the campaign haha. There was so much crap that happened before the campaign even came to be, that I was not sleeping… I had to do some major overtime to ensure the campaign still happened and this guy here… made it possible for me to make it through the 3 days of the campaign. I do not know what I would have done without him! Alan not only got what needed to be done, but also sees the full picture and what needs to be done in the future to stop the cycle and really make a big difference. Al is a huge supporter of the mobile clinic and will even come down as often as possible to work it when he can. This guy was front to back at the campaign and did everything from helping getting dogs registered, to climbing a tree after an escaped cat to get her back to her owner! Alan wrote me a little while ago and said “Pamela, Mexico opened my eyes and changed my life.” Alan has a new job now. He gave up his sales position and is now working with one of Canada’s top dog trainers. When he finishes his certification, his job will be working with the dogs in the SPCA shelter in Halifax to ready them for their new homes! It still makes me cry such happy tears just typing that! Alan also ended up with a 4 legged friend from here too. His name is Cofi and Cofi was a dog that was staying with the volunteers during the campaign that was supposed to go to a rescue in Toronto. Cofi bonded so quickly with Al, and I KNEW, this was his human. Cofi is very happy at home with Al in Canada and his new furry brother!!!!
Emilija! Emilija is HILARIOUS. Her sense of humor kept us all laughing and upbeat during the campaign and after too. Emilija worked in pre op for the 3 days – intubating animals, putting in their catheters and prepping them for surgery. Emilija busted butt and is working hard to get accepted into the University of Guelph Veterinary program and we WANT her in there SO BAD! It is really competitive and Emilija would be such an asset to have here and help in the community and I would LOVE to have her. So please, send this outstanding woman ALL the amazing vibes you can because it is her destiny. And she totally deserves it! I mean look at her! She was bent over literally, all day working for the animals and still wants to do more of it! And she should!!!!!! Emilija worked along side my vet Dr. Erik and he taught her all she needed to know to make it through pre op and she rocked it. I am so proud of her, and so grateful to know her and have connected with her. She will be back again to do more work so keep an eye out for her!!!!
Pup date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After the campaign, it was 6 more days of work for me. I had organized for the volunteersto fly back on different flights in order to move out as many dogs from the shelters here as possible, before the heat embargo started (May 14th) After May 14th, it is VERY hard to move dogs to their placements in Canada because 1. there is only one airline that will fly dogs over the summer and 2. not many people come down for vacation when its so nice and sunny up in Canada. Over the 6 days, a total of 38 dogs all made it to Canada and only but a few are already in their forever homes! This was all made possible thanks to Air Transat and Westjet. Between the two airlines and their pet policies and waivers, the total cost for each dog to fly to Canada was only $31.90. For the cost of a spay, they got to go to the place where they will live like the princes and princesses they always were!
All the dogs I had at my house, except feral Momma were all sent and I have updates on each and EVERY one!!! Here is just a couple of them for today!
First up MARLEY!!!!!!
Marley was the little ball of dredlocks that Evelyne brought to me. After a good shave and check up… he was deemed super healthy and fit! He was friends with everyone and I just loved this guy. He fit in so well with the other dogs here.
Well, here he is in his new home and this is what his new humans had to say about Marley!
I will be doing more updates, and showing lots more campaign photos, introductions and pup dates! So keep an eye out!!!