On February 9, a Canadian resident of the village of La Trinidad, Nan Niemelo, opened her specious home to our sterilization team. Our veterinarians and volunteers were able to spread out on one level to conduct the campaign. They even had access to two bathrooms, with hot and cold running water!
The team sterilized 50 animals—24 female dogs, 8 male dogs, 15 female cats, and 3 male cats. Although the campaign included three pugs, who require special care because their short noses constrict their breathing, it ran without incident and concluded at 5 p.m.
We captured a few photos of people and their pets waiting for their turn.
Our new van, Jonny Guapo, made his first appearance at a sterilization campaign, causing much excitement among our team members and the public. Although he is slightly smaller than our Ford Windstar van, Julia arranged for a platform to be built inside, which greatly increases the usable interior space and the convenience of loading and unloading.
Thanks to Nan Niemela for offering us the use of her home for the campaign. And thanks to all the volunteers who made the campaign a success: campaign manager Julia Salido; Drs. Sandra Hernández, Abril Herrera, and Ricardo Montes de Oca; and volunteers Karla Ahumada, Alexa Barrón Olivares, Julie Boyles, Valentina Breslaver, Mary Beth Canavan, Rosemarie Conde, Yiye Contreras, Cecilia Galindo Ayala, Beth Lozano, Paige Oldham, Alethia Olivares Escobar, Cintia Rodríguez Patrón, Dulce Sandoval, and Vicky Sandoval.
Two weeks later, on February 23, we held another campaign at the headquarters of the housing development Mantanial, near the University Santa Fe. There we sterilized 87 animals—31 female dogs, 9 male dogs, 30 female cats, and 17 male cats.
The campaign ran smoothly, as usual. Saul Helfenbein, a public health professional who was present and has observed our campaigns on previous occasions, commented, “It’s always a pleasure to see how well run these campaigns are. This is due to very good planning, training, and dedication of the volunteers and professional staff.”
We are grateful to our sterilization team members for another job well done: Julia Salido, campaign manager; veterinarians Verónica Almaguer, Abril Herrera, Sandra Hernández, Ricardo Montes de Oca, and Arturo Rocha; and volunteers Karla Ahumada, Julie Boyles, Mary Beth Canavan, Irene Campos, Fran Espinoza, Adhán Mata, Nona Mondragón, Maggie Rincón, Carlos Sánchez, and Vicky Sandoval.