Inside the Latest Spay/Neuter Campaign in Colima, Mexico

Last Sunday the Colectivo Escuintle, a volunteer organization in Colima, worked with the government to offer a free spay/neuter campaign in Cuauhtémoc, a small town just outside the city. Here are some photos, so you can see what a well-organized high volume sterilization campaign in Mexico looks like. Thank you to Gabriela Alegría for the photos. You can see all 137 photos by clicking on her name.

Here's the building in the town center where the campaign was held. The government paid for the medical supplies. All the workers, including several board certified veterinarians, were volunteers.

Citizens of Cuauhtémoc could bring their pets, and were also encouraged to bring in street dogs and cats. All the animals were carefully documented, weighed, and checked for health issues.

And the surgeons got to work. Though the operating theater was on folding tables, outdoors on the porch of the building, every effort was made to maintain sterile conditions for the surgeries.

Veterinary students helped with preparations, sedating then anesthetizing the animals according to their weight, and assisting in the actual surgeries.

Then a team of volunteers took over, taking temperatures and monitoring each animal in recovery. There were plenty of vets on hand to help out if difficulties should arise, which luckily seldom happens.

After a final checkup from a vet and armed with a page of instructions, owners could take their spayed and neutered pets home again. I'm guessing this is actually a before photo, since they usually look a little groggy on the way home.

March Campaign in Manzanillo

In a week or so, I'll do a whole post about the coming campaign in Manzanillo. For the moment, here's a brief summary: If you'd like to help out with a spay/neuter campaign here in Mexico, please let me know in a comment, or contact Zoe Katsulos. To donate for future campaigns, contact Friends of Pata, a registered US non-profit. Most campaigns in Mexico are run entirely on donations.

There's a spay/neuter campaign coming up in March in Manzanillo, with a full-fledged volunteer humanitourism vacation available. Here's a three-minute video of last year's campaign/vacation. For more information or to sign up, visit The Inside and Out.

I hope you've enjoyed this brief look inside a sterilization campaign in Mexico. I look forward to our conversation in the comments.