During August and September, we sterilized 258 animals—126 dogs and 132 cats, bringing our total for the year thus far to 1,036. Two campaigns took place in Las Teresas, one in El Manantial, and one in the Buenos Aires subdivision of Santa Teresa.
At the first campaign in Las Teresas, on August 11, we sterilized 61 animals in the community center—35 dogs and 26 cats. Then in the suburb of El Mantanial on August 25 we sterilized 79 animals—46 dogs and 33 cats. As usual, more dogs than cats, and more females than males, were brought to the campaigns.
But on September 8 at our second campaign in Las Teresas, held for people who could not be accommodated at the August 11 campaign, we sterilized 18 dogs and 38 cats, for a total of 56 animals. Cats take longer than dogs to awake after being anesthetized, and so we usually schedule two cat surgeries for every dog surgery until all the cats have been operated on.
At the second campaign in Las Teresas, a dog died after his surgery despite a prolonged effort to revive him. Afterward his owner reported that he’d been ill before she brought him to the campaign. A fatality at a campaign is a rare event, one that saddens everyone present.
At our campaign in Buenos Aires on September 22, we sterilized 62 animals—27 dogs and 35 cats. The campaign was held outdoors at the home belonging to Arely Dueñas y Victor Milan. Several large tarps were hung above our team and patients to shield them from the hot sun.
Some of the dogs and cats sterilized at our campaigns have been rescued by our volunteers, who are always looking for good homes for these animals. Both young ones and adults have been treated for parasites, vaccinated, and socialized, so that they make great pets. You can find photos and descriptions of them on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/amigosdelosanimalesguanajuatocapital.
As always, we are grateful to our veterinarians and campaign volunteers. A list of participants in the August campaigns is not available. Those who participated in the September campaigns were veterinarians Sandra Hernández and Ricardo Montes de Oca, Julia Salido, our campaign manager; hosts Arely Dueñas y Victor Milan; and volunteers María José Alba, Neftali Amezcua, Christian Bautista, Julie Boyles, Mary Beth Canavan, Rosemarie Conde, Carlos Donato, Francisca Espinoza, Ana García, Joel Gaytan, Abril Herrera, Tony López, Beth Lozano, Juana Mondragón, Adhán Mata López Vero Mares, Gabriel Ramírez, and the following volunteers whose surnames we do not know: Joel, Juanita, and Paulina.