Our first sterilization campaign of the month was held on August 9 at the city park El Encino, where we sterilized 105 animals—26 female dogs, 16 male dogs, 43 female cats, and 20 male cats. We are extremely pleased that many pet owners are bringing their male dogs and cats to our campaigns. The campaign ran smoothly, and our team finished up at 5 p.m. A second campaign took place on August 23 in the Mellado area of the city, where we sterilized an additional 80 dogs and cats.
Our teachers, Tony López and Julia Salido, led entertaining activities for children to raise their awareness of pets’ needs at programs organized by various groups for youngsters during the summer recess from school. The events took place at Moo Duk Kwan Abejas gymnasium in Villas de Guanajuato on August 5, Academia Mentores on August 4, Puntas del Sur on August 10, the Iconográfico Museum’s La Manchita annex for children on August 11; and the subdivision El Manantial on August 12.
During the events, Tony and Julia read stories to the children, played educational games, had the children make their own dog and cat masks using paper and crayons, and at one event introduced them to a live kitten Tony had found abandoned in a dumpster. Each child received an Amigos coloring book to take home.
Our Fundraising Committee was busy planning for our Christmas Market, to be held in late November, the exact date and location to be determined by the municipal government. Our board also began planning for our 25th anniversary celebration next year.
We responded to several requests from the public for advice on responding to neighbors’ mistreatment of pets. Our media specialist, Joslyn Lewis, posted 8 messages about pets as companions and their needs on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
We are grateful to all our members for their dedicated work on behalf of the community. They include our teachers Tony López and Julia Salido, our campaign manager, Julia Salido; our veterinarians, Verónica Almaguer, Ricardo Montes de Oca, Abril Herrera, Arturo Rocha, and Juan Pablo Rodríguez; and our volunteers, most of whom (but probably not all) are listed here: Karla Ahumada, Julie Boyles, Mary Beth Canavan, Liz Carranza, Rosemarie Conde, Fran Fonseca, Joel Gaytán Pacheco,Jann Lee, Joslyn Lewis, Beth Lozano, Andrea Martín Muñoz de Cote, Adhán Mata López, Frany Méndez Móntiel, Gisele Phillips, Gabriel Ramírez, Terri Rasmussen, Tom Reavley, Pamela Rodríguez Vega, Blaine Southward, Cecilia Spero, Jim Sullivan, Vicki Wagner, and Sandra Ward. We also thank the community members who recognize the value of sterilizing their pets by bringing them to our campaigns.