Operacion Amor has racked up yet another success in its two-year campaign to encourage the Chapala area’s native populace to spay and neuter their dogs and cats in order to prevent unwanted reproduction.
Scores of local families took advantage of the group’s three-day free sterilization clinic held November 15, 16 and 17 for the first time in the town of San Nicolas de Ibarra, where a dedicated team of vets performed surgical procedures on 146 dogs and cats.
With that achievement, a total of 1,032 animals have been fixed through Operacion Amor since the program was launched in November 2011. Previous clinics have taken place in Chapala and Santa Cruz de la Soledad.
The project was facilitated by cooperation and contributions from the Chapala Municipal Government, the city’s ecology office, San Nicolas town administrator Ana Luisa Raygoza, the Jalisco Health Department, Fundacion Antonio Haghenbeck y de la Lama I.A.P., Salud y Derecho Ambiental A.C., IBM, and Dr. Antonio Ladron de Guevara.
A huge support team made up of Mexican and foreign residents assisted with the logistics, including record-keeping, grooming, tattooing, worming and tender-loving pre- and post-operative care for each of the four-legged patients.
Operacion Amor extends heartfelt thanks to all the vets who have lent their professional support: Daniel Borrego, Alina Gonzalez, Mayra Ibarra, Isabel Reyes, Hugo Ruiz, Luis Maciel, Miriam Ibañez, Jacob Briseño, Hector Gomez, Luz Martinez, Cielo Toral, Xochitl Quezada, Victor Castañeda, Alma Molina, Gabriela Davalos, Salvador Betancourt, Jose Luis Cruz, Alfonso Reveles, Erik Sanabria and Bob Strand.
The accomplishments and rewards of the program have spawned Operacion Compasion, a sister organization is starting up a mirror the sterilization campaign for Jocotepec and its outlying communities. The first spay-neuter clinic is scheduled for February 7 through 9 in San Juan Cosala. The new group is throwing a Spay-ghetti No Balls dinner Saturday, November 16, 5 p.m., at the San Juan Raquet Club to raise funds for the cause. For last-minute ticket information, call Dee Mistrik, 387-761-0041.