We Made a Difference
When The Ranch first began our program of sending dogs to homes in the US and Canada, one of the first rescue partners we worked with was Street Dog Hero which is based in Bend, OR. The organization was founded by Marianne Cox who loves dogs and travel. One of her favorite locations to vacation with her family is Mexico. The condition of street dogs in our country broke her heart so she made the decision to help as many as possible. She developed a network of fosters to take in dogs from areas in the US with a high population of dogs in shelters as well as from other countries. Once the dogs are in the care of one of her fosters, they begin the process of finding them their perfect home.
Marianne also recognizes that the true answer to helping this situation is spay and neuter. So she has been organizing spay/neuter clinics in some areas most in need. In February, her organization sponsored a clinic in Chetumal and Bacalar, which are located in the Yucatan. This was a huge undertaking and she needed as many volunteers as possible. Julie Wittman, Justo Ramirez and I traveled to the Yucatan (at our own expense) to work this clinic. What an amazing experience!
The vets for the clinic were from the group Planned Pethood International which is based in Cancun. They supplied ten vets and one vet tech. These vets were incredible! On the first two days in Chetumal they sterilized 425 dogs and cats. On the last day in Bacalar they did surgery on 120. These clinics are so heart warming as the owners of these dogs are truly devoted to them. When we were helping the animals in recovery, the owners would often be hovering nearby anxious to see their animals wake up and move around.
The team of volunteers that Marianne assembled were pretty amazing. Some came from a nursing background and others were just animal lovers. The days were long, hot and dirty. 10 to 12 hour days were the norm yet no one complained. We often had our hands full in recovery. During the busiest times, it wasn’t unusual to have five or six cats and/or dogs in our care. But the best feeling was talking with these devoted pet owners and hearing how much they appreciated this opportunity to help their much loved companions.