While the lakeside area abounds with animal lovers, rescue shelters and protection advocates, two local organizations that stand out in the crowd are Operación Amor and the recently renamed Companions and Compassion, the non-profit groups that put together periodic spay and neuter clinics offering free sterilization surgeries to low-income Mexican families.
Run with the support of dedicated volunteers and professional veterinarians who contribute medical expertise, their programs are rendering significant long-term benefits. The clinics not only greatly reduce the multiplication of unwanted puppies and kittens and the number of strays that end up in already over-crowded shelters, but also play a huge role in changing cultural attitudes and raising public awareness about humane care for four-legged critters.
Operación Amor has spearheaded sterilization programs in the Chapala and outlying towns for more than five years. The latest clinic took place March 4 through 6 at the campus of the Escuela Tecnica 83 middle school, where 228 cats and dogs underwent procedures over the three days. That accomplishment pushes the group’s historical tally to more than 2,500 “fixed” pets and the prevention of countless unplanned pregnancies.
Companions and Compassion, formerly known as Operación Compasión, is a spin-off of Operación Amor that started in 2014 to offer similar spay and neuter clinics in San Juan Cosalá. Last year the group expanded its program with outreach to four small rural villages in the Jocotepec area.
Both of the groups excel at organization, running the surgical clinics like well-oiled machines. Mexican and expats volunteers are split into small support teams, working seamlessly to register pet owners, fill out meticulous medical records, weigh each animal to apply perfectly measured doses of anesthesia, prep each dog and cat for surgery, assist the surgeons, gently watch over and groom the animals in the post-op recovery areas and instruct owners post-operative care. The process may go as far as inking small tattoos on each creature’s body to indicate it has been sterilized, and providing collars and metal ID tags for canine patients.
Such efficiency, close attention to detail and aura of kindness are major factors in a formula that has instilled confidence among a public that is relatively new to the concept of animal sterilization, especially those of the male gender.
Perhaps both groups would have been doomed to failure were it not for the lakeside’s generous and compassionate expat residents who help sustain the clinics through volunteerism, donations and fundraising events.
Keep track of their efforts on Facebook and get more details by contacting Cameron Peters at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and Dee Mistrik 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..