Campaign in Carrizo
Our first campaign of the month took place on Sunday, May 12, at the Guadalupe Victoria Secondary School in the Carrizo area of the city. We sterilized 73 animals that day—36 female dogs, 9 male dogs, 21 female cats, and 7 male cats.
The temperature that day rose to 91 degrees Fahrenheit. Fortunately, the school is situated on a hill, and a large breezeway separates two of its buildings. Our team set up its equipment in the breezeway and enjoyed a pleasant cross-draft in the shaded area.
Campaign in Yerbabuena
On Sunday, May 26, we held our second campaign at the home of Andrea Martín Muñoz de Cote and Carlos Sánchez Santoyo in Yerbabuena. Our generous hosts provided tents, tarps, and chairs for our clients and volunteers so that they could escape from the extremely hot sun while waiting for their pets to be sterilized or do their work in outdoor stations set up for the campaign.
As usual, after registering the cases, Tony López, our education specialist, talked with the children who were present about how to take care of their pets. Then she set up our educational board game for them to play.
We sterilized 54 animals that day: 17 female dogs, 16 male dogs, 17 female cats, and 4 male cats. The campaign ran very smoothly, ending at 4 p.m.
Our medical team included Dr. Sandra Hernández, a veterinarian who works at the city’s Animal Control and Care Center; Dr. Ricardo Montes de Oca; Karla Ahumada, and Abril Hernández (no relation to Dr. Sandra Hernández). Karla and Abril, regular volunteers at our campaigns, have completed their requirements for becoming licensed veterinarians and will receive their degrees shortly.
We thank Andrea Martín Muñoz de Cote and Carlos Sánchez Santoyo for generously offering us the use of their home for the Yerbabuena campaign. We are also very grateful to our always cheerful team members for their hard work during the two campaigns, especially given our recently challenging weather. They include veterinarians Verónica Almaguer, Sandra Hernández, Ricardo Montes de Oca, and Arturo Rocha; Julia Salido, our campaign manager; and volunteers Karla Ivet Ahumada Ramírez, Carolina Castillo Velázquez, Carlos Donato Sandoval, Natalia Espinoza Guzmán, Alexa Espinoza Maldonado, Ramón Adrián González Córdova, Abril Herrera Galván, Victoria Larrazolo, Gabriel Joshua Alejandro Lona Palafox, Antonia López Palacios, Beth Lozano, Adhán Alberto Mata López, María Guadalupe Mendoza Juárez, Ana Luisa Miguel Guerra, Joana Soledad Mondragón Quiñones, Luz Montiel, Martha Laura Ortiz Campo, Itzel Adilene Ramírez Cortes, Arianna Gisela Rodríguez Rodríguez, Dulce Sandoval, Vicky Sandoval, and Axel Ricardo Torres.
Spreading the word about our campaign in Carrizo
In preparation for the sterilization campaign at the Guadalupe Victoria Secondary School on May 12, Tony López and Julia Salido, our education team, visited the school on May 7 to talk with students about the importance of caring for pets and the benefits of sterilizing them. They followed their presentations with questions about sterilization and its relevance to reducing pet overpopulation, abuse, and abandonment.
They also announced our sterilization campaign on the following Sunday and asked the students to encourage their parents bring their dogs and cats—males as well as females—to the campaign. Visiting 16 classrooms, they spoke to 560 students altogether, ages 12-15, for about 18 minutes in each classroom.
A TV interview about temporary and permanent homes for rescued animals
On the morning of May 16 Tony López and Nayeli Vázquez, cofounders of the rescue group Colectivo Guindis, discussed the differences between a temporary (foster) home and a permanent home for rescued animals during an interview on TV Channel 8’s morning program “Despierta Guanajuato” (Good morning, Guanajuato). They brought with them to the interview a cute young dog named Pelegrín who had been rescued in poor condition but is now healthy, socialized, and awaiting a permanent home. You can watch their interview by clicking here.
Every two months Colectivo Guindis receives independent rescuers who bring rescued puppies and cats, which are bathed, vaccinated, and treated for parasites, and cared for until permanent homes can be found for them. Amigos de los Animales sterilizes the animals at our sterilization campaigns before their adoption.
The Colectivo holds occasional adoption events in public plazas of the city. For more information about the adoption events and process, see their Facebook page. Amigos is proud to collaborate with this organization for the benefit of Guanajuato’s companion animals.
A teaching event at Resplandor International in Cajones
On the afternoon of May 16 Tony López visited the organization Resplandor International, where she talked with 14 children, ages 3-10, about the importance of caring for animals. She also read a story to them and played a game called “blind hen,” in which the children made animals’ sounds. Afterward she asked the children questions to gauge their understanding of the topics discussed.
Resplandor is a nonprofit organization in the rural community of Cajones that works with individuals, families, and communities to enhance well-being in the areas of education, culture, and health. It offers numerous activities and resources for children, including a large library of children’s books, early childhood education, a computer center and classes, a nature program, a summer camp program, swimming, painting, and music.
Amigos is collaborating with Resplandor to improve children’s (and parents’) understanding of pets’ needs and their respect for animals in general. Our education team visits the community center once a month, in the afternoon of the third Thursday, to engage children of various ages in such activities as confidence-building games, storytelling, drawing and coloring pictures portraying animals, and role-playing.
