APC Report to Membership

August 1, 2011

Dear Advocates for Animal Health and Welfare,

I am an American who has been living full time for almost 6 years in a small town in Central Pacific coastal Mexico. Although I speak Spanish I knew very little about customs and culture upon arrival and had no definite plan about my future here. As a lifelong advocate for animal health and welfare, however, I quickly realized that there were no animal shelters except in faraway big cities, no enforced laws to protect animals, no animal control programs, and no one to help homeless, injured and abused dogs and cats who roamed and reproduced freely and spread parasites and diseases while risking poisoning and other injuries. I was horrified, and despite the many challenges I faced in my personal life adjusting to relocation to a foreign country, I had to tackle this enormous problem. I also realized how much animal overpopulation negatively impacts the human population, spreading diseases and parasites in a tropical setting where many people live without window screens or even doors and have outdoor kitchens and bathrooms and children play in the dirt alongside any and all animals. Puppies and kittens often turn feral due to lack of attention, care and food, and the whole problem spirals.

CTVT (canine transmissible venereal tumor), something I had never even heard of before but soon after arriving in Lo, learned it is an epidemic here, along with erlichiosis, scabies, etc.

Luckily I soon met another American woman living here part-time who knew of a mobile animal sterilization team, partially sponsored by the Mexican government, that traveled town to town in this same coastal region. I learned that it is up to each town to contact the team, make an appt. for a 3 day "clinic", and then provide a suitable location, housing, food and volunteers to organize and manage the clinic, including post-op recovery. This Mobile Animal Surgical Hospital (MASH) also required payment of $16000 pesos (roughly $1600 US). By then I'd met a few more people with the same vision and we put ourselves to the task of bringing the clinic here. We staged a successful fundraiser, found a clinic location, people volunteered, and everything came together for what was to be the first of 6 hugely successful clinics where to date approximately 700 dogs, cats, kittens and puppies have been sterilized and treated for internal and external parasites and other diseases. Dozens of animal orphans now have decent homes, many abroad in the USA and Canada, and humane education here is well underway. Mexicans now come to me on a regular basis asking for pet sterilization and other medical help.

Of course our needs are still great, and we are seeking continued funds and supplies to continue and improve our sterilization and animal health and welfare programs. The following is part of our wish list, and please know that used and outdated items are welcome where appropriate:

Monocryl or other dissolvable sutures (approximately 100 animals are sterilized at each clinic) 3-0, 2-0, 1-0

Scalpel blades

Gauze squares

IV catheters, ass't. sizes

Trach tubes

Anesthesia

Syringes

Antibiotics, esp. doxycycline

Imidocarb

Ivermectin

Vaccines

Sterile gloves

Blood profile equipment/machine

X-ray equipment/machine

Grooming shears and blades

Collars & leashes

Animal crates/carriers

Small animal traps

Anything you can donate is well utilized and appreciated, and we thank you so very much. We can offer to some donors or anyone wishing to be part of a clinic team free room or hotel accommodations, and you will then have the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful beach and jungle setting of this recently named "Rivera Nayarit" coastline.

Most Sincerely,

Ann (Ana) Embury-Lewis

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