Have a look at the charts illustrating the development of our sterilization program over the years. Created by Jim Sullivan, our technical advisor, they appear in the Spay/Neuter section of our website. Jim will be updating the charts each month.
Jim was able to chart our sterilization history because we have maintained statistics on our sterilization cases since 1999, when we began offering sterilization services at several local veterinary clinics. In December 2001 we sterilized 35 animals at our first campaign, held in the village Puentecillas. Two months later, In February 2002, the federal government of Mexico recognized Amigos as a nonprofit organization (asociación civil).
During our early years we held only three or four campaigns a year, relying upon services volunteered by private veterinarians, including visiting vets from the United States. Local vets also offered us their sterilization services in their clinics at reduced rates.
The graphs show that throughout the years we have sterilized nearly twice as many dogs as cats and, not surprisingly, significantly more females than males.
The surge in cases during the years 2012-17 was due to our collaboration with Secretariat of Health veterinarians, who scheduled five or six campaigns each month. In 2018-19 we worked closely with the Centro de Control Animal (CECA), relying on their vets. The dramatic drop in the number of cases in 2020 was due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
For the past several years we have had our own veterinary team and a cadre of dedicated support volunteers, who enable us to conduct two campaigns per month. Their work is made possible by donations to Amigos from the public, including the people who bring their pets to the campaigns. We receive no financial support from the city of Guanajuato, the state government, or the Mexican federal government.