I approached the Templo de la Santa Cruz in the heart of the Valle del Maiz on a cold February morning to see dozens of lovely, patient Mexicans with their beloved pets waiting to receive the help offered by Amigos de los Animales, an organization that provides free pet sterilizations and education to the San Miguel community.
Devoted vets and Amigos volunteers from San Miguel set up a MASH style hospital in the annex of the church to carry out the surgeries. I was asked as a retired dental hygienist to clean the dog’s teeth, after they were taken unconscious from surgery into Dog Recovery, headed by my good friend Lisa Wandler. We cleaned healthy teeth, pulled rotten, painful ones, treated mouth infections and drained abscesses. No doubt we saved at least two lives with our "just in the nick of time" dental interventions.
While owners comforted their beloved pets, Amigos volunteers also counseled people about animal nutrition, overall health and well being and gave advice about other problems their animals may have presented – weight above or below normal, parasites, skin problems, eye infections, allergies, obvious wounds including dog bites and of course, proper dental hygiene.
Owners were delighted to receive any information that would make their 4-legged family members healthier and happier. They often heard the same information repeated several times as it was relayed to the people around them but they listened attentively just the same to be sure not to miss a single word.
138 cats, dogs, puppies, and kittens were spayed or neutered in the Valle del Maiz blitz.
Many, many thanks to the veterinarians, vet techs, and volunteers who made the two days possible. Special thanks to Eric Nemer of Hecho En Mexico and Dave Sheffar of El Maple, the SMA Canine Police, and the Department of Ecología.
