Everyone at the campaign remained calm, and the surgeries continued until all the 80 registered animals were sterilized. Our cases that day consisted of 21 female dogs, 11 male dogs, 30 female cats, and 18 male cats. After sharing a late lunch offered by our hosts, around 6 p.m. our surgeons, campaign manager, and volunteers packed up their equipment and headed home on nearly deserted streets. 

Early in the morning, I heard a persistent meow; it sounded like a kitten. We lived in an apartment, so I assumed the neighbors had adopted a new kitten. But as night fell, the meowing continued. I went outside and found the hungry little creature we would name Cochi (short for Biz-cochito, because he was cross-eyed and hygiene was a foreign concept to him). It makes sense in Spanish.

We didn’t have anything ready to receive him, so we fed him a can of tuna and let him go. The next day we got a litter box and some cat food and waited for him to return. Sure enough, he returned, and we remained together until the end of his days.

Almost immediately we developed a very strong bond, a special way of understanding each other, a trust that led him to knead and purr every time he saw us and to come meowing when we called him by the name we’d given him. His presence brought us the pleasure of petting him and the inherent calm of his company. Like any relationship, this one was also full of contradictions, conflicts, and misunderstandings linked to the fact that Cochi and I, despite being very close, belonged to different species. We lived, thought, perceived, and communicated about the world differently.

Cochi was one of the many nonhuman beings with whom I have had the privilege of sharing my days, and thinking of him and our shared intimacy reminds me of the notion of “companion species” proposed by Donna Haraway. For this author, “companion species” encompass the vast diversity of beings that make human and nonhuman life possible—that is, the fungi, yeasts, bacteria, and viruses with which we cohabit and that inhabit us; the animals and plants we feed on and that enable our subsistence; and, of course, the species we more traditionally tend to consider “companions.” 

The idea that we keep each other company and need one another challenges the usual way of thinking about nonhuman beings as resources or objects that exist for our service. In the example of our relationship with Cochi, this mutual dependence went far beyond the need for food and became an emotional interdependence that provided us with security, warmth, and calm.

By thinking of nonhuman beings as companions, we can strive to build different relationships with everything around us, stop viewing others as resources at our disposal, and begin to question the positioning of the human as the centre of existence. At a time like the present, when we face a climate crisis that has already led to mass extinctions and many other catastrophes, this shift in thinking could be of vital importance. For this reason, we invite you to ask yourself: How do you relate to the nonhuman beings around you? How can you transform these relationships?

On Sunday, March 8, our team sterilized 103 animals in El Manantial subdivision—35 female dogs, 19 male dogs, 34 female cats, and 15 male cats. 

For the most part, the campaign went well; but several cases were complicated by excessive bleeding. Such cases sometimes occur because a pet’s owner is unaware of an animal’s underlying risk factor or neglects to mention it.

 “It’s important for people to be attentive to their pets’ health status and not to have them spayed or neutered if they have any doubts about their health or if they aren’t sure they’re complying with the minimum 8-hour fasting period,” advises Julia Salido, our campaign manager.

Blood-born parasitic diseases are common throughout Mexico, and they increase complications during surgery. Ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas transmit the diseases to dogs, cats, and humans. Although less prevalent in Guanajuato, these diseases still pose a significant risk.

Although people cannot contract those diseases from their pets, minimizing our own exposure to tick, mosquito, and flea bites with insect repellent is the best way for us to avoid infection. For dogs and cats, veterinarians recommend year-round preventive medicines that are highly effective. 

On Sunday, March 22, in the village of Cajones, we sterilized 53 cases—27 female dogs, 7 male dogs, 13 female cats, and 6 male cats. All went well, and there were no complications.

We thank both our sterilization team for their hard work and our generous hosts, the administration of El Manantial subdivision and Resplandor International in the village of Cajones. 

Three separate sections offered contrasting wares. The Grand Bazaar, overseen by Liz Carranza and Vicki Wagner, featured a huge assortment of donated items. Among them were some amazing bargains, such as name-brand clothing, which discerning shoppers pounced on. The Collectibles Corner, assembled by Sandra Ward, offered antiques and unusual treasures from foreign lands. And Terri’s Tiny Tiendita, created by Terri Rasmussen, presented a huge selection of beautiful gift items at very affordable prices.

Contributing to the festivity were our two bartenders, Mario Arellano and Gabriel Ramírez, who offered shoppers beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages at our no-host bar. To everyone’s delight, Suzy Thompson, our former tienda organizer, was there from the U.S. and helped our bartenders attract customers.

Outside the building a lot was going on too. Volunteers, Susan Pataky and Joslyn Lewis, served many varieties of delicious, hot focaccia they had prepared. A food truck owned by Rafael Herbert offered tacos, hamburgers, and other delicious items.

Our friends from Fundación Corazón Animal were there, too, with some darling rescued puppies for adoption. Several of the puppies went to new homes.

The event raised $67,418 pesos (US $3,890) for our sterilization and education program. And it had a multiplier effect: we donated unsold merchandise from the Grand Bazaar to Arco Iris, another Guanajuato charity that helps families in need.

Our sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to the event’s success. Those include everyone who donated items for our Grand Bazaar and Collectibles Collection; Terri Rasmussen, whose re-creation of her Tiny Tiendita was stunning; Jeffrey and Siwsan Gimprich, who graciously stored our inventory as it increased during previous months; our sherpas Cristobal Arellano, Hanna Dixon and her friend, Tom Dunne, Stephen and Mary Haskett, Charles Huckaby, Arlene and Don Lang, Veronique Marconnet, Gabo Ramírez, Kate Redman, and Terry Woodruff, who carried the inventory from the Gimprich home to Case Grande or helped set it up; our in-store sales people Dyan Amirault, Mary Beth Canavan, Liz Carranza, Mary Haskett, Pat Heinke, Jann Lee, Arlene Lang, Maureen Neeley, Terri Rasmussen, Kate Redman, Vicki Wagner, Sandra Ward, and Terry Woodruff; Amigos treasurer Joslyn Lewis, who bought the drinks; bartenders Mario Arellano and Gabriel Ramírez; and Joslyn Lewis and Susan Pataky for making and serving the focaccia. The event could not have taken place at Casa Grande without the use of its salón de fiestas, generously offered to us by owner Ricardo Herbert and his staff. Finally, we thank everyone who came to the fiesta and spent money!

Besides Vicki, our current board consists of Liz Carranza, Rosemarie Conde, Jann Lee, Joslyn Lewis, Gabriel Ramírez, Tom Reavley, Julia Salido, and Sandra Ward. Nancy Hager is our U.S. corporate secretary in New York. Board members serve without compensation.

Our officers are elected for one-year terms. Reelected this year were Tom Reavley, president, Joslyn Lewis, treasurer, and Liz Carranza, secretary. Gabriel Ramírez was elected vice president to replace Suzy Thompson, who recently moved to the U.S. All the board members and officers were elected unanimously.

Thanks to our donors, our fundraising efforts, and our frugality, Amigos ended 2025 with a hefty balance, even after having purchased a new van for our sterilization program. Although a typical campaign costs us $26,036 pesos (US $1502), we economize by not having an office to maintain and by relying on volunteers for many of our service needs.

Our accomplishments in 2025 included 22 sterilization campaigns (1,454 cases) at 14 locations and 5 sterilization training workshops (31 cases), for a total of 1,485 cases. Our two education specialists were busy mostly during the summer months, when regular schools were out of session but community groups offered summer courses for children. Altogether, the two women led 13 events focusing on pets’ needs and how to care for them.

Twice a week we posted educational messages on our Facebook and Instagram pages, and we displayed eight educational messages on the backs of two city buses during the year. Each message remained on a bus for three months and was seen by thousands of Guanajuatenses. We also published 12 monthly newsletters online, in English and Spanish, and updated our website.

Our 23rd anniversary celebration in February 2025 raised $113,417 pesos, and our Christmas Market in December netted $54,895 pesos. Terri Rasmussen, owner of Terri’s Tiny Tiendita, donated all the profits of her sales to Amigos, and Susan Pataky contributed the ingredients and oversaw the preparation of the many food items for the Christmas Market.

Enhancing our bottom line was very generous support from 10 Queridos Amigos individuals and couples, each of whom who donated at least USD $1200 to our organization in 2025. Other donors made significant one-time or monthly contributions. And most of the owners of pets sterilized at our campaigns donated $150 pesos per animal, thus reducing our average cost per sterilization from $527 to $394 pesos.

With no major increases in our capital or operating expenditures planned, our budget for 2026 is $902,888 pesos (US $52,100), based on a projected inflation rate of 3.89 percent. Besides continuing our twice-monthly sterilization campaigns and our teaching activities, our plans for the year include training a veterinary student to administer anesthesia for our campaigns, recruiting and training several high school students to help at the campaigns, and recruiting a student volunteer with a flair for communication to help with social media messages. Gabriel Ramírez, an attorney, will encourage law students to help members of the public file complaints about animal mistreatment with the city government.

Victoria Wagner, known to her friends as Vicki, joined the Amigos board of directors at the members’ annual meeting on February 9. Our board members are elected to two-year terms that can be, and usually are, renewed.

Vicki Wagner is a long-term animal lover and has had various pets since childhood. She was an executive director/CEO for three U.S. nonprofits for homeless and at-risk children and youth in Seattle and at the national level. She retired after 35 years but since retirement has volunteered and acted as a consultant and coach for executive leadership. She is a co-author of several publications on mental health and HIV with homeless youth. She has been a permanent resident of Guanajuato since 2025 but spent several years here prior.

We are very pleased to have another highly qualified person join our board.

“Even though there were only three of our veterinarians at the campaign, we were able to achieve this number thanks to the large number of males,” reported Julia Salido, our campaign manager. Male castrations are simpler and take less time to perform than female spays. She added, “I dare say we’ve never had as many as we did yesterday.”

The campaign took place at the Community Center in Las Teresas, a large housing development on the outskirts of the city of Guanajuato.

Our education program emphasizes the importance of sterilizing males as well as females. For example, whereas a female dog theoretically can have three litters per year, a male dog can impregnate seven females in one day. Moreover, sterilized pets are less likely to get into fights, less prone to wander, unlikely to contract venereal diseases, and in general live longer and healthier lives than unsterilized pets.

The increasing number of male dogs and cats at our campaigns suggests that a growing number of Guanajuatenses are aware of the problems that their male pets’ uncontrolled fertility create for themselves and the community at large.

Message 135 focuses on the number of animals Amigos has sterilized and the consequent reduction in the number of unwanted puppies and kittens facing lives of misery.

Noting the cold weather, message 136 encourages readers to let a homeless cat enter their home and become part of the family.

Our messages are designed by Amigos treasurer Joslyn Lewis, who also designs and posts several messages each week on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Here are a few of her recent posts:

The programs and teaching materials were originally developed for use in American pre-kindergarten to 12^th grade schools. We had been aware of some of those materials but had not tried to use them in our Teaching Children Compassion program because they were available only in English.

Kristina Hulvershorn, TeachHeart’s program director, recently contacted us and offered to share their lesson series on companion animals, which have been translated into Spanish for a large-scale teacher training program in Puerto Rico. 

The materials complement ones we’ve developed ourselves and received from other humane educators for our Teaching Compassion program.  They will expand our toolbox for working with children of various ages. Most of our activities occur during the summer, when public schools are out of session.

Some of our teaching occurs at our sterilization campaigns, when parents bring their children to the campaigns. Because of the frequently large number of cases at campaigns, people must sometimes wait several hours for their pets to be sterilized. While they wait, many children and their parents become willing captive audiences. 

As Kristina explained to us, TeachHeart’s lesson series was created with the knowledge that young people can be important ambassadors for animals by helping to bring important knowledge about them into households and communities. Teenagers involved in youth changemaker clubs fostered by TeachHeart are encouraged to set their own goals and develop their own teaching programs. 

For example, many pets are given up to shelters because of behavioral problems. Members of one U.S. club developed a pamphlet designed to help pet owners change their pets’ behavior. Copies of the pamphlet were given to shelters in the hope of persuading pet owners to give their pets another chance.

The concept of changemaker clubs can be adapted to existing youth organizations in Mexico, which are especially active during the summer months.  In addition, high school and university students are required to perform a certain number of hours of community service before graduating. From time to time, some of them have approached us to offer their help. We plan to make the TeachHeart materials available to older students who are interested in encouraging compassionate behavior toward animals among youngsters.

Our sincere thanks to Kristina and her organization for sharing their materials with us.