1. Remember we are a 501C3. So you can still give a donation before midnight and get a tax deduction. Here is a rundown on some of the things that a donation would pay for. $4.00 will deworm 4 puppies, what a difference that can make $8.00 a vaccine, saves puppies every day $20.00 pays for one spay or neuter, the math is incredible on how many puppies or kittens one sterilization can prevent from being born $25.00 buys a bottle of doxycycline with 500 - 100 mg. tabs. This cures ehrlichia which affects almost every dog in Mexico, and it's also good for respiratory infections. When one pup gets one of those and there are 45 other pups in the rescue, it spreads like crazy. $25.00 pays for someone to work for seven hours cleaning up after and feeding our pups $25.00 pays for one soft carrier that one of our pups can ride in to fly to a forever, loving home $50.00 pays for one medium crate $100.00 pays for one large crate Other items that we use every day like: Vitamin B12 Wound gel Metronidazole for Giardia Ear cleaner Creams for skin problems - these are all $20 to $40 a container and we go through them fast. There are many more things of course but I just thought that it would be nice to know where the money goes. Thanks in advance to everyone who helps us help them. Happy New Year. On the left is Franklin, he's new, he was hit by a car but is doing much better now, Jeff has even let him sit on the couch. And on the right is Momma Elsa, who was used for breeding, she is so pleased to be here and even gets to sleep on the bed sometimes.

2. Last weekend I went to an area called the Guatalupana. The government on the island has been absconding with property that belongs to the islanders. So a large group of Islenos squatted on a big piece of property mid island on the Carrabean side. It has been a few years now and they still don't have water, electricity or sewage. Most of the homes are shacks and many of the homeowners have dug wells or bought large water tanks that sit in their front yards. Of course there are dogs everywhere and when we have spay and neuter clinics we go there to pick up animals. And when we get donations we go there with de-wormer, collars, vitamins, food and medicine if needed. I would love sometime to be able to vaccinate all the animals but we will need a bigger budget for that as most of our funds go to the sterilization clinics. The children are wonderful and after many, many visits the people are used to seeing me hang around making a big fuss over their dogs.

3. There has been a wonderful group of people that have supported Isla Animals for years. Cheryl House has created this group and stayed with it to help us save pups and spay and neuter every cat and dog we can get our hands on. This year has been one of the best as far as donations and we are so grateful and pleased with the work it has allowed us to do. Below is the list of donors and the beautiful dog that has sadly passed but instigated such generosity. His name was Dr. Zhivago. Thank you all for your support. 2011 ROSIE'S BOW WOW CLUB The club for 2011 raised a total of $2,950. In memory of Dr. Zhivago Extra Large Bones $300 & Over Cheryl House. In Memory of Rosie Jan & Terry Gerken (Moby) Large Bones. $100 to $299 Lael House Wojcik, Honoring - Rookie Julie House Presa, Honoring - Trucco James & Kristin Yasord. In Memory of Vago John & Jean Epler Chris & Kim Cannon Roxane Osantowski, Honoring - Tequila - adopted from Plaza Almendros(AKA, Oreo, Patches) Kelly Ragsdale Valerie Kordyban David & Karen Childers Ron & Diane Seals Medium Bones $50 to $99 Karl & Deanne House Drew & Alison House Tom & Barb Carlson Small Bones $25 to $49 Mike & Tina Lawrence Julie Howard Dan Lindner Don & Jan Hardin Honoring Goldie, Plaza Almendros Cat

4. Jeff and I just got back to Mexico a few days ago. We're having a spay and neuter clinic next week and then the normal dog stuff from there. I would like to do a sweep of the island, door to door, working on vaccinations and spaying and neutering. I mean really - we've been back two days and we already have a very weak momma with eight pups. Then I got a call about another dog with eight pups and Jeff and I are about to go pick up four. This has to stop. I called my new momma - Momma Rina after the hurricane that wasn't. Here is our new mom warming up her pups after their bath this morning, such a good mom. This must be black dog week, out of the thirteen puppies there is only one white one. We are so looking forward to moving ahead this year. With all the rescue groups and people that we are working with now, we can get more done and we're hoping that we can get some help with this. Already we have some wonderful monthly donators, and it makes a huge difference. So many people ask me what they can do to help, well it's really easy. If we can get enough people donating $10.00 a month we will have a budget to work with. Ten people giving up two starbuck coffees every month can buy enough dog food for a week, or three spays or four neuters, or twelve vaccines, or five distemper tests, or four parvo tests, or two and a half medium crates, or ten bottles of specialty shampoos, or two bottles of de-wormer, or five dog rides to the airport, or five health certificates, and on and on. Every penny goes to the dogs, there is no administration, we pay Marcelino's salary (he works at the house and helps with the dogs). IT'S ALL FOR THE DOGS. We've been home three nights and already have two momma's with their pups. There is no where else for these dogs to go. We will find homes for the pups and spay the moms. Each spayed female is one step closer to a better life for dogs in Mexico. If you already donate, ask a friend to do it too, and ask their friends to do it as well. Ten dollars a month and we can make a huge difference together. I forgot to mention in this blog yesterday that the Isla Animals Website is set up to do monthly donations. If you scroll down to the very bottom of the front page there is a donate button, click on that and then there are instructions on how to continue. Thank you everybody, in advance, who donates. It makes all the difference. We are setting up for a big spay and neuter clinic today and getting ready for all the street puppies that we find.

5. We are doing another big spay and neuter clinic in Corales near Rancho Viejo which is next to Cancun. This is our second clinic in this location. Last time we ended up with over fifty puppies. We can put the dogs back on the street but never the puppies. We often re-home the dogs if we can as well. Anyway it has been the worst year for distemper that I've ever seen. Unfortunately we lost about 20% of those pups to distemper. It only takes one distemper pup to infect an entire group of un-vaccinated puppies. So this April we're going to test every puppy that comes in. The tests are two hundred pesos a piece, about eighteen dollars, we want to have seventy five available for that last week of April. I'm asking if any of you can help by buying one or two tests it would make a huge difference. You can donate on our pay pal and make a note that it's for distemper tests and that's exactly what it will be used for. This is an extra cost that we didn't figure into our budget when we were making the original plans. On a more fun note, Isla Animals has had a small explosion of puppies. First we got a litter of nine. Pepe spotted the mom and her pups next to the bull ring in Cancun and has been waiting for them to be old enough to bring here. Then we got a moma and her seven pups. Everyone is healthy, has already been tested for distemper and is adjusting well. By the way Rusty is doing much better.

6. The race was great. There's lots of room for improvement but for a first effort we are all very happy. To all of the incredible volunteers, Jeff and I are so, so grateful. And to those who helped set things up ahead of time with the city and the schools and the race route, we couldn't possibly have done it without you. We haven't finished with the tally because Jeff is still working at the music festival but as soon as we have numbers I will post them. We had over sixty runners thanks to all of you wonderful people who signed up to sponsor school kids. And for you generous supporters who sponsored teams of five, it added so much excitement. Unfortunately we couldn't fill all the teams but next year people will have a better idea of what's going on. The whole event was fun and involved the entire community. From the island government to the police department to the Navy that allowed us to run on the runway. We had help from the Red Cross, they sent their ambulance to be on standby. We had runners of all ages from many different countries. For the first year we couldn't have asked for more.

7. What could be better than getting a puppy or dog off the street. How can you beat putting meat on a starving animals bones or help out a dog before it's abused and learns to mistrust humans. It's the best feeling in the world. Help me prevent another box of unwanted pups being left on a vacant lot. I can do all that and more if I have the funds. Help us turn this Into this It's a great gift idea for the person who has everything. You can buy them a monthly donation to Isla Animals. I will make sure that every penny that you donate is put to work. It's the most wonderful thing to know that we can count on a certain amount of money coming in each month. It allows me to plan ahead in this work that is other wise, to say the least, financially chaotic. And if you are looking for something different you can donate a certain amount of spays and neuters in someone's name. The surgery averages out to $20.00 an animal and it's the bottom line solution to overpopulation and suffering of animals in Mexico. Donate and then let me know by email bayfirestd@aol.com so I can make sure that a Christmas card is sent to your friend or family member. They will love it.

8. Thank You to the Bow Wow Club For Your generous Donation!

9. Yahoo, we are now a 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit organization

 

 

Donate $100 to Isla Animals today and get Alison's Book "No Urn for Ashes" FREE!

 

Puppy Progress

KEEPING AN EYE ON THINGS

Before Christmas we went out to the Guatalupana after hearing that there was one family with thirteen puppies. We found the house. One momma had 5 six week old puppies and the other momma had 8 two week old puppies.We took the older puppies and Delfino spayed the mom but we had to leave the younger ones behind. I made a note to myself to return. Then after Christmas someone came to my house with a little puppy that someone had handed them on New Years Eve. The pup came from the same area and was about the right age so I pulled up my picture of the younger pups and there she was.If you check the bundle of puppies the new little one is upper right. So now I’m worried. These pups are too young to be given away. If the family has started to hand them out, I’m going to get them. Which I did. There were five left.We gave them all baths, picked off the ticks and fleas and then of course they got new clothes. ha ha This is what dog rescue people do when they have time on their hands.

STILL TIME FOR A TAX DEDUCTION

Remember we are a 501C3. So you can still give a donation before midnight and get a tax deduction. Here is a rundown on some of the things that a donation would pay for.
$4.00 will deworm 4 puppies, what a difference that can make
$8.00 a vaccine, saves puppies every day
$20.00 pays for one spay or neuter, the math is incredible on how many puppies or kittens one sterilization can prevent from being born
$25.00 buys a bottle of doxycycline with 500 – 100 mg. tabs. This cures ehrlichia which affects almost every dog in Mexico, and it’s also good for respiratory infections. When one pup gets one of those and there are 45 other pups in the rescue, it spreads like crazy.
$25.00 pays for someone to work for seven hours cleaning up after and feeding our pups
$25.00 pays for one soft carrier that one of our pups can ride in to fly to a forever, loving home
$50.00 pays for one medium crate
$100.00 pays for one large crate

Other items that we use every day like:
Vitamin B12
Wound gel
Metronidazole for Giardia
Ear cleaner
Creams for skin problems – these are all $20 to $40 a container and we go through them fast. There are many more things of course but I just thought that it would be nice to know where the money goes. Thanks in advance to everyone who helps us help them. Happy New Year.
On the left is Franklin, he’s new, he was hit by a car but is doing much better now, Jeff has even let him sit on the couch. And on the right is Momma Elsa, who was used for breeding, she is so pleased to be here and even gets to sleep on the bed sometimes.

STILL STOMPIMG TOWELS

There are only a few pieces of equipment more important than a washing machine, if you run a dog rescue. We use a ton of towels everyday. Two or three days without doing the laundry, our machine is broken, and we have a stack half the size of a Volkswagen. Plus they don’t have “do it yourself” laundry mats here, you take you dirty laundry in, they weigh it, charge by the kilo, and you pick it up four hours later. But that doesn’t apply to us because they would never, never accept our smelly towels. Not a chance. So I spend the last part of everyday stomping towels.

And then we got a mom and four more pups in, which means more dirty towels. It has been incredible this fall. We can’t seem to get ahead of things. I was feeling so great about the four pups that we sent out last week and then we got four more in and the momma. But are these puppies ever cute. Jeff says I always say that. Ha ha

NOT OVER YET

Wow, I love the spay and neuter clinics. But the supplies I could do without. Before the clinic they fill up my house and then after the clinic they fill up my house but they smell bad. I just keep sorting and sorting and Jeff looks at me like, “are we a kennel or a house?” At the moment we look more like a kennel inside the house and outside the house.
Our final count on puppies is 41. One of them died of parvo and we’re doing the best we can to keep it from spreading. We’re watching everyone like a hawk. Then Pepe brought us this gorgeous poodle who had his eye removed after a big dog bit him. He was here one night before we found him the most wonderful home.And the puppy in the bowl, who can resist a puppy in a bowl.

Happy New Year

So, my years always start in September, first it was because of the kids in school but now it’s the month that we head to Mexico again. Jeff and I always drive back and forth in our RV because we just have too many supplies and too many dogs to fly.
The reason I even mention this is because so many people tell me that they want to do what we do, meaning live somewhere warm and rescue animals. So I thought, and I hope I can stick with it, that I would blog about life in Mexico doing animal rescue.
To start, I’m sitting in our new (used) RV, driving south. Our old RV was seven years old and Jeff said, “ too many things are breaking down for me to feel confident driving all the way through Mexico.” The last thing that anyone wants to do is break down in the middle of nowhere on a Mexican Highway.
We are packed to the hilt. All year people send supplies to our condo in Colorado and every year we take it down with us to save money on supplies. It really is wonderful – how much people send us.

The picture to the left shows only part of the supplies, the back bedroom is also full and the crates are in the garage. Packing the RV is a two day ordeal. The first day we pack the supplies and the second day we pack us.
Meanwhile in Mexico, the picture below is of the first puppy coming to us, it was found on the streets in very sad shape and of course there are dogs at the house already, nine of them, so here we go again.

BUFF, KELLY, ANDREA AND BOCA

We have some wonderful happy endings. Buff, who had tick paralysis and stayed here for almost two weeks, is home again. He’s much much better and has a loving family that missed him. It was so cute. We sent him home with an old dog crate and set it up in Buff’s front yard. Buff was inside before we finished putting it together. He just sat there looking out at us and barking “mine, mine, mine”.Then there is Kelly who was tied to my door not too long ago. She looks terrible in this picture, sadly that was how she arrived. It took three days to get all the ticks off of her but under all those ticks and fleas we found the most beautiful dog. Wow, I mean wonderful. She has already been adopted and now lives in Rhode Island, I miss her. Other good news, Momma Andrea, now Georgia has a fantastic home.It was love at first sight with her new family and now she’s living in Michigan.
But I also need some positive thinking for Boca, a puppy who my friend Pamela knew about. The poor little thing may have a broken jaw. We think that she was bitten by a much bigger dog and we’re hoping that it’s just swollen. Pepe is taking her in for x-rays. I’ll keep you updated.

FOLLOWING UP

When we do spay and neuter clinics it’s so important to check on the animals that have had surgery. Many of the islanders don’t have cars and most taxis won’t pick people with dogs up, especially when the animal has a big open wound. So for a few days after the clinics we visit the animals to make sure they are healing well.
It was a good thing that Bonnie checked on one pup because the pup was infected and needed to be restitched. But there was an extra bonus for me because I got some added puppy time. Across the street there was a litter of five little beauties. We took them home for a bath and deworming and we are going back when I get some vaccinations so they stay healthy.
You should have seen me on the back of Pepe’s motto with a pup in each arm and my helmet, which was too big, flapping in the wind behind me and no hands to do anything about it. I wish we had taken that picture.

CRAZY HOUSE

Ha we are still a crazy house, full to capacity. And we have our new babes that I just posted, they seem so small compared to the rest of my pups. I bring them inside in a box to feed them. The box picture is blurry because they get so hungry and excited they never stay still.

Our bathtub babes are much better as well, they are going to be big dogs and already tower over some of the pups that are older than they are.

Even though there are a ton of pups I love this time when they all at least have two vaccinations.

IT WAS A TRADE

A woman on the island has saved three dogs from the street. Now she has health problems and can’t keep them. So we arranged for the biggest dog to go to my friend who has a rescue in Cancun but there is always a trade. Guess what we got, a momma and her six pups.Am I ever glad they are here. The mom really needs some good food and the pups are hungry so we are feeding them some extra milk, they are about three weeks old.

Pablo Got his stitches out

Our poor little Pablo was found alone in the street using three of his four legs. We brought him to the house and even though he never complained his femur was broken. Pepe fixed him up, put a pin in the bone and he is using his leg a little more every day. He is also gaining weight, I’m sure he was last in line for any tasty garbage morsels with only three legs to get there. His is so sweet and wow, what a face.