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.
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.
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.
BACK TO MEXICO
We’re on our way back to Isla Mujeres with supplies and to get ready for a Mega training spay and neuter clinic. This will be our third clinic in Corales which is near Puerto Juarez and Rancho Viejo, which is part of Isla Mujeres but on the mainland. Between last October and May we did over one thousand cats and dogs. We are hitting the same area over and over. It’s a very poor neighborhood and the animal situation is awful, but getting better all the time.
It seems like just yesterday when we picked up our two cutie puppies that lived in our shower and found a wonderful home in the USA.
We found them living under a boat and fed them. The next morning they were waiting for us and said they wanted to come along. They were amazing.
KAREN THE FREQUENT FLYER UPDATE
This is such a lovely ending to a long journey I just had to share it. First is the story of Karen at my rescue and then all of her travel trials and then a letter from the person who adopted her. It’s great. This is long but it’s worth it.
In Isla Mujeres and Cancun I’ve become the puppy person. Puppies are so difficult and at bigger risk when put in a rescue with older dogs. So Ricardo, who runs a rescue in Cancun and takes in any and every street dog and does a fabulous job and literally loves the dogs as much as I do, sent me two small puppies at the beginning of February, a male and a female, eight weeks old. They were tiny and adorable with bad skin and shaky knees from a calcium deficiency. I named them after Richard and Karen Carpenter.
BIG PLANS
Isla Animals and Candi (www.candiinternational.org) have big plans for the next year. We are planning a mega-teaching spay and neuter clinic for the vets in the Isla Mujeres – Cancun area. We are hoping to train 48 vets in a high volume, low cost, safe surgery technique during the first week of November.
After that we have plans for many more clinics. Spay and neuter is the answer to improving the sad state of the cats and dogs and we are determined to make a difference. 
The reason I bring this up is in years past people have sent us a wonderful variety of supplies that have allowed us to operate on more animals with less money. To those who have donated in the past, thank you very much and if you can again that would be wonderful and to anyone that could donate now, it makes a huge difference.
A GREAT STORY
Jeff and I are on the way from Mexico to Colorado in our RV. We drive across the Yucatan Penninsula to the Gulf of Mexico and always stay at this one place in a small town called Isla Iguada. It’s right on the beach and really great.
This year we stayed an extra day because we had some complications sending pups to Toronto and wanted to be available. Of course I’m always watching the local dog situation and on the beach right in front of us were two saddly, skinny puppies living under a boat. I took them some food and expected them to run away but they were incredibly friendly. So Jeff and I talked about taking them but decided it would be really difficult. I spent all day playing with them and giving them food. The day we were leaving we stepped outside the camper and there they were. “Hi, are we leaving today?” What are you going to do??????
So we put them in the shower. They were so good I can’t believe it. They were instantly house trained, never whined and were just a joy. So we get to Texas and there is a lovely retired couple in the camp site across from us. One look at the pups and they adopted them. I’m asking all the questions, not wanting to part with the pups, who I named Tipper and Birdie, so soon. But it was a perfect match. So these wonderful cuties went from starving under a boat to a wonderful life in Texas. It doesn’t get any better than that.
STARSKY AND HUTCH
We have had two dogs living in our bushes for four months. They were trapped in the mangroves and brought to us way past the age of making an easy transition to living with people. We had some wonderful volunteers here earlier in the year who worked with them but after they left, having 30 to 40 other pups made it impossible to continue training them on a daily basis. They needed hours of time every day for weeks to make any difference but, sadly, we could never find them homes the way they were.
Then along came Troy, the incredible dog trainer. He wrote me in March to say that he was coming to the island in May and asked if there was anything he could do. I immediately wrote him about Starsky and Hutch. He sent some wonderful suggestions and offered to work with them when he got here. He was great. He got them out of the bushes and came every morning to train them. It’s amazing what knowledge and patience can achieve. Troy went back to Arizona and I’m walking Starsky and Hutch twice a day. I have Starsky tied to my foot as I’m typing this and he’s lying down and relatively calm.
Both dogs have a long way to go, but I’d given up on them and I’ll never do that again. Thank you Troy.
THE MATH IS ALL WRONG
Jeff and I head north for the summer months and have friends stay at our house. We try to get the number of dogs way down before we go but the math is all wrong. Yesterday I was so excited, we sent out four pups but we took in ten. Oh No. The puppies below are on their way to wonderful new homes.
Then a man showed up with three puppies that were born at Playa Indio, the were covered with fleas and in sad shape.
Then a rescue in Cancun arrived with two little cuties that had no where else to go.
Then Dr. Pepe Vega showed up with a litter of five that he rescued. This doesn’t seem to be going in the right directions. Oh Well. Something always works out.
GETTING MINI TO HER NEW HOME
Mini is such a special pup. We were doing a one day spay and neuter clinic in the Guatalupana which is a very poor section of Isla Mujeres. I spotted a group of children running around with two pups that looked in awful shape so I asked them about it. They told me that their dog had eight pups but only two had survived. Mini was the smallest. They let me take them home for some TLC. I didn’t think Mini would make it through that first night. But she did. She’s had a rough beginning but is doing much better. The other pup went back to the family that owned the mother but Mini is staying here.
A wonderful family visiting the island came to the house to walk dogs everyday. They fell in love with Mini. Unfortunately when it was time for them to go Mini was not well enough to travel. She is now. So we are looking for anyone traveling to Chicago or Cincinnati, or Cleveland, or anywhere in that area that would like to take Mini with them. She’s tiny and will fit in a soft pack that goes under the seat in front. We would do everything, pay everything and take whoever can do it to the airport. Time is the problem right now, as it gets warmer fewer airlines will fly animals. So let us know if you can help. Contact me at bayfirestd@aol.com. Lets cross our finger.
WHAT A GREAT THREE DAYS
We just finished our three day mobile clinic on Isla Mujeres. It was great. We set up in central locations in three different neighborhoods. The owners could bring their animals, they could watch, help out, stay with their cats or dogs the entire time. That way it’s an education as well as a sterilization.
We had incredible volunteers, they showed up early and stayed late. The second day we were lucky enough to be in Laura and Alan’s garden for recovery.
The third day we were in the Kiosk in La Gloria, there was a breeze, lots of animals and everything went so well. Thirty nine cats and dogs, lots of producing moms and we can’t wait to do it again.
The last picture is of one of the puppies we picked up at the dump.
NEED A LITTLE HELP AND A PUPPY EXPLOSION
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.
MEET RUSTY
We are having a huge spay and neuter clinic on the main land at the same location that we used in October. Wonderful place to work. A big school with lots of room. A few days ago I went over to check it out and then took a tour of the surrounding areas. Wow, these areas are like nothing you’ve ever seen. Not only does Cancun dump their garbage there but they dump dogs and pups that they want to get rid of.
Above, with the little black pup, is Jesika, who tries to help by taking food to the dogs and picks up puppies that have been abandoned. Unfortunately the people who live there won’t always let her take the pups. But Rusty was sick so they allowed me go in and check him out and then, thankfully they let me take him.
Rusty is here with us now. He’s getting the royal treatment. He needs to get used to the other dogs, I think he had to fend for himself out there and he only weighs about 5 pounds. He’s eating well, getting perkier and braver with each hour. How about that heart on his forehead. ADORABLE.
