Rosa Maria Perez and her daughter Cristal Avalos showed up early at Chapala’s Secundaria Tecnica 83 on Friday, March 6, anxious to sign up their canine companions Daisy and Paloma for the Operacion Amor sterilization campaign.
“Our house is very small and unfenced, so every time the dogs go into heat, males easily get in to breed,” Rosa Maria explains. Between them, Daisy and Paloma have already produced a dozen litters. Rosa Maria and Cristal expressed their relief that the trials of going through heats and finding homes for puppies are ending for once and all.
Those sentiments reflect a common thread among all the folks who took advantage of the three-day run of the free clinic, where a total of 150 cats and dogs successfully underwent spay and neuter procedures.
Considering statistics on the reproduction chain, sterilization has the potential of preventing the birth of as many as two million unwanted animals multiplied down the line from the first litter of a single female.
In reaching out to people in low and middle income neighborhoods, Operacion Amor is undoubtedly having a huge and positive impact in the Chapala community as it helps keep strays off the streets and gradually relieves stress on the area’s various animal rescue shelters.
This month Operacion Amor ran its eleventh spay and neuter campaign, rotated to different localities three times a year. With ample experience under their belts, organization leaders Amalia Garcia, Cameron Peters and veterinary medical chief Bob Strand have created a well oiled machine supported by a strong team of professional animal doctors and volunteer assistants.
“We struggled to get the program started with little knowledge of how to fit in with Mexican culture,” observes Strand, a retired Colorado vet who came aboard not long after putting down roots at lakeside 17 years ago. “Now everybody understands exactly what has to be done. The last couple of clinics have gone remarkably well, with tight organization, excellent surgeons and very clean conditions in borrowed facilities. I’ve never seen better recovery care. The animals rarely suffer complications.”
Efficiency and close attention to every detail are major factors in Operacion Amor’s formula for success. Mexican and expat volunteers are split into small support teams, working in harmony to register pet owners, fill out carefully kept medical records, weigh each animal, apply perfectly measured doses of an
esthesia, prep each dog and cat for surgery, assist the surgeons, lovingly watch over and groom the animals in the post-op recovery areas, ink small tattoos indicating the creature has been sterilized, fully instruct owners on post-operative care and even make metal ID tags for every dog.
The program is backed by Chapala’s municipal government and its ecology department, IBM, Laboratorios Pisa and most significant
ly, Fundación Antonio Haghenbeck y de la Lama I.A.P., which sponsors bringing in highly skilled veterinary surgeons from Mexico City. Participating doctors for last week’s clinic were Adolfo Reveles, Jose Luis Cruz and Leonardo Rodriguez.
Local and Guadalajara vets pitching in this time around were Mirna Angulo, Ailing Aparicio, Daniel Borrego, Jacob Briseño, Lourdes Lucas, Luis Maciel, Leiliani Ortiz, Erik Sanabria and Cielo Toral.
Secundaria Tecnica principal Francisco Javier Rodríguez Rios earned a pat on the back for making the school’s science lab and classroom space available for the clinic services. Students at the school also enjoyed a valuable learning experience in observing the whole process, getting close contact with the animals, understanding the benefits and importance of pet sterilization and helping out in making dog tags.
The only real gap in the program is a fund-raising captain with bright ideas for filling the chest to fully cover Operacion Amor operating expenses. Persons interested in joining the cause are encouraged to contact Cameron Peters at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or Amalia Garcia at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..