Projects

Description of Projects and Needs:

This year (my years always start in September) we are having two clinics in Bonfil. It is a poor area in Cancun near the Airport. The street population of cats and dogs is over the top. Last year we did a clinic there in January and Isla Animals took home 65 puppies. We do not put puppies back on the streets. Older dogs with survival skills who would be hard to turn into house pets are spayed/neutered and put back exactly where we found them. Often times they have territories and people who occasionally feed them.

But the puppies are a whole different thing, so they come to us. This November 5-10 we are joining with Planned Pethood, Candi International, Cancun Animal Rescue, Coco’s Cat Rescue, Luum Balicheo, Jaguar Cats, Animalistas and Rescate Malix for our next large scale spay and neuter clinic. We are hoping to do over 1000 animals.

Our next large scale clinic after that will be in January with Vidas and we are hoping for the same number of surgeries. If we keep hitting this area we WILL make a huge difference. We also do special surgeries or arrange to have them done if the need comes to our attention. Like Pablo who had a broken hip.

We will also continue to have our regular clinics on Isla Mujeres and our ongoing day to day spays and neuters. One of Isla Animal’s biggest expenses for these clinics are tests. We need to buy at least 50 distemper tests and 50 Parvo tests. That way we can control an environment that includes sixty-five un-vaccinated puppies. We saw the value of this last spring when we had very few deaths from the spread of Parvo and distemper. We want to make that happen again.

April 25 to April 29, we are having our second spay and neuter clinic in Corales, next to Cancun and near Rancho Viejo. This is being organized by Candi International and Isla Animals with help from Coco Cat Rescue and the Cozumel Humane Society. We will have more vets this time and hope to spay and/or neuter four hundred to five hundred cats and dogs. Everyday we will be saving space for fifteen street dogs, I’m so excited about this. We’ll have a special team to bring them in and then we’ll keep them for two days until we’re sure they’re well enough to go back on the street.

April 13, 14 and 15, we (Isla Animals and Peace) are organizing a three day mobile clinic. We are going into the neighborhoods and working there. We tried this last month and it was very successful. We get more local participation and take the mystery out of the procedure.

Spay and Neuter Clinics, October 2010: Isla Animals and Candi (cats and dogs international) are funding and organizing three spay and neuter clinics in the Cancun area. These clinics are being supported by Pet Project Rescue and Achates Legacy. The first is in Puerto Juarez, where the ferry leaves for Isla Mujeres. This area has needed help with their animals for a long time, the clinic will be from October 18 to October 22. The second is at the Cancun Pound (Perera) that will run from October 20 to October 23. This is a follow up clinic to the one we had there in April 2010.
The third clinic will be in San Cosme from October 27 to October 31, this is a follow up to the clinic that we had there last October and we will be including the small Peublos surrounding San Cosme. This area is in the jungle and the animals are in desperate need of care.

Dog Gone Foundation: This project was created in 2004 by Alison and Jeff in response to the overwhelming number of dogs they were fostering at their house. Because the numbers had reached as high as 40 at a time, they sometimes resorted to local adoptions that were into less than ideal homes. Unfortunately these dogs often ended up on the streets again or were poorly cared for and eventually came back to Alison and Jeff’s house with a whole new set of health problems to treat. Sometimes tourists would visit and adopt a dog. Alison would help them fly the animal home, offering crates and paper work. After sending out so many dogs she knows all the ins and outs of the process.

Procuring Private Funding: Isla Animals depends on donations from tourists and visitors to the web site. All monies go straight to the care of the animals. Aside from that Alison has written a mystery novel called NO URN FOR THE ASHES and is donating the proceeds to fund the animal work. Isla Animals also sells creams called Oceans Potions to raise money.

Weekly Spay Day: After many spay/neuter clinics it became apparent that while there was an initial improvement in street animals, the numbers began to climb between the yearly events. We decided that year round upkeep was important and initiated a weekly “Spay Day” with the goal of performing a minimum of 6 spays/ neuters per week (312 per year). We also trap and spay/neuter feral animals who are then released after an appropriate amount of recovery time. Plus we make sure that all animals in foster care are done before they are adopted out.

Foster Care: Every year, literally hundreds of animals pass through our foster care program. Some stay only a day and some stay for much longer (we’ve had some who had to wait nearly two years for their forever homes!). We make every effort possible to care for animals in need, only euthanizing when there is no other option. (for example if a dog is violent) When looked at on a per animal daily basis, foster care is relatively inexpensive, costing just under a dollar per animal per day. However, put 40 animals into foster care and you can see how it becomes costly very quickly.

Island Clinic: We do everything we can to support the island clinic. It’s still in need of equipment and supplies. We need things like: an autoclave, a portable x-ray machine, a washing machine, an outdoor kennel with roof, etc. etc These things can be donated to Isla Animals and will be passed onto the clinic. Larger equipment will be kept under the name of Isla Animals and lent out to whatever clinic is helping the island animals.

We need things like: An autoclave, a portable x-ray machine (an incredible dream), a washing machine, an outdoor kennel with roof, etc.

Rancho Viejo: After the hurricane in October, 2005, Molly Fisher swooped into Isla Mujeres with donations of cash and items desperately needed by both the human and animal population of the island. At this time we visited an area on the mainland called Rancho Viejo. This area, as well as Punta Sam where the car ferry lands, is part of the municipality of Isla Mujeres. It therefore gets no aide from Cancun and because the government of Isla is a mysterious thing, it gets very little aide from the island either. Rancho Viejo is very poor, most of the population is lined up along a road that has huge smelly garbage trucks barreling by all day because it is situated between Cancun and the garbage dump.

 

In the less populated part there are small horse and cattle ranches (I mean really small) scattered loosely along a dirt road. Most buildings are shacks and the animal population is a sad sight.

We would like to get in there with more spay and neuter clinics and a regular visit with a wellness vet. Food, tic and flea meds, internal parasite meds, and vaccines are also desperately needed.