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!

 

ISLAND SPAY AND NEUTER CLINIC

We just finished a spay and neuter clinic on the island. It was great. Our goal was sixty or seventy animals and we did one hundred and two. How cool is that.
Above is our check in crew and then Bonnie, the boss, multi-tasking. We had two operating tables, one for Delfino and one for Arturo, who has a clinic in Cancun and came to work all three days.

We had tons of volunteers, Umberto did the drugs, and lunches were donated by Lolo Valentino’s, Jax, and Barlitos. Needless to say, we ate very well.
Here are some of the cuties that were brought to the clinic. It was a great three days and there will be more to come soon. Many of the supplies that we used were left over from our Cancun clinic that was funded by Jennifer Pryor and George Lopez.

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.

YAHOO FOR SPAY AND NEUTER

What a magnificent week we’ve had. Bonfil, Cancun, near the airport where the street dog population is heartbreaking. Candi, Isla Animals and Planned Pethood did a 5 day clinic. We spayed and neutered 1,574 cats and dogs. I still can’t believe it. What a team. Everyone from Canada, the USA, different parts of Mexico, and Cuba came together to make this happen. The impact on this area will be incredible.

As usual, we don’t put puppies back in the street so Isla Animals brought home 29 pups. We only took the ones that needed help or were too young to adopt out. The rest were adopted out the last day of the clinic with the help of local animal rescue groups who helped with the clinic.

Do you know how long it takes to vaccinate and deworm that many puppies.

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.

LOTS GOING ON

Big news, Just-in went to Edmonton yesterday where he can get proper care for his eyes and have tests for his hearing. Note our wonderful vet in the front seat.
We are all getting ready for two clinics. First there is one on Isla Mujeres, April 13, 14, and 15. We are taking the clinic into the neighborhoods. It’s less stressful for the animals and more informative for the owners. We’ll do less animals but reach more people. Then we are heading to Corales in Cancun on April 24, for a clinic April 25-29. For Candi International and Isla Animals this is the second clinic in this location. Below, Laura and Alan are helping me stuff packs for surgery and we are so lucky to get more supplies donated.

YAHOO

My web page blog thing hasn’t been working but it’s back. Now there is so much to tell. First the spay and neuter clinic at the Guatalupana was a huge success. One of the highlights was that Pepe (the vet) and I arrived half an hour late. What a wonderful surprise we had. I had asked three people to volunteer, there were eight people there waiting. Plus the people that live there had set up a check in stand and were already registering animals. It was one of those moments that make it all worth it.

The kids were really interested in everything that was going on.

SPAY AND NEUTER ON THE ISLAND

It’s a great week for Isla Mujeres. Peace, Clinica Chippie and Isla Animals are sponsoring a five day spay and neuter clinic. We have great volunteers and go from 8am to 7pm at night. We’re also so lucky to have wonderful Lynn back, our visiting vet. This may actually be her fourth clinic on the island.

This is how we set up for all our special cats and dogs.

And this is how it looks in recovery after surgery and where our skilled volunteers take care of the animals.

More to come, I’m heading back to the clinic now.

MY POOR HUSBAND

Our nights are pretty noisy these days. It’s just the way things are set up and of course the addition of a few hound dogs doesn’t help. The whole thing is a funny chain of events. We have tons of growing puppies in the courtyard of our house which is right below our bedroom. Well these little cuties can’t make it through the night without more food, or more room, or less poop, or more water, they always find some excuse to wake us up at two am each morning.

So I go down to see what’s up. When the lights go on the outside dogs start to bark which wakes up the basset hounds which spreads around the idea that she’s in heat, which gets all the male dogs up. Then the male basset hound gets all annoyed and thinks his girl friend is flirting so he starts to howl and then she beats him up which makes all the dogs go nuts.

Luckily we are having a spay and neuter clinic next week and we will remove all of the body parts that cause these problems.

BETTER THAN IT USED TO BE

People often ask me where all my dogs come from, how do I get so many. Well this morning is a good example of just how some dogs come my way. This little fellow was tied to our gate and abandoned some time in the night.

Poor little thing was terrified. We brought him in and he’s playing with the older puppies now. We’ll give him today to get used to the place and then vaccinate and de-worm him. Luckily we’re having a five day spay and neuter clinic on the island starting January 17, he’ll be first in line.
What I mean by ‘better than it used to be’ is——when we first came to the island ten years ago, if someone didn’t want their dog any more they would simply kick the dog out into the street, or take him to the dump or take him to the other end of the island and leave him there. For me, when they tie the dog to our gate it says that they cared enough to abandone the animal where they know he’ll be safe. That has to be an improvement.