This has been the wettest spring in Guanajuato that anyone we know can remember. June has seen an especially large number of rainy days. We’re not complaining, because this is a drought-prone region of Mexico. But conducting a sterilization campaign on a day of heavy rainfall is a challenge, not just because no one likes to be out in the rain but also because many buildings here have leaky roofs.
Such was the case on Sunday, June 22, when a campaign was scheduled at the Salón de Fiestas in Las Teresas. Julia Salido, our campaign manager, considered cancelling the campaign, thinking no one would show up. But when she arrived at the site, she found dozens of people and their pets huddled under a covered basketball court next to the building, patiently waiting.
The court and the building are located at the bottom of a series of stairs that resembled a waterfall. Somehow our team, with help from the pets’ owners, managed to bring all the campaign equipment indoors and set it up between rain puddles.
Altogether, we sterilized 45 animals that day—11 female dogs, 11 male dogs, 18 female cats, and 5 male cats—not the 100 or so cases we had expected, but a respectable turnout given the weather. What struck me during my visit was how cheerful everyone was. There were few dry places to sit, so many people stood, in some cases for well over an hour, as they waited their pets’ turn.
The team also had to deal with a complicated case involving a large, overweight male dog, one of whose testicles was embedded in the abdominal cavity. His surgery briefly required the attention of all three veterinarians. But the surgery was successful, and everything ended well.
We’re very grateful to our volunteers and to the intrepid pet owners who decided that sterilizing their pets was more important than staying home and dry that Sunday.
Special thanks to veterinarians Sandy Hernández, Abril Herrera, and Ricardo Montes de Oca; campaign manager July Salido; and volunteers Karla Ahumada, Julie Boyles, Rosemarie Conde, Maria Littlehales, Tony López, Vero Mares, Andrea Martínez, Adhán Mata, Beth Mingledorff, Nona Mondragón, and Vicky Sandoval.