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VIDAS Tulum Clinic October 2004
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When I first announced my desire to participate in the October 2004 VIDAS clinic in Tulum, many of my peers thought I was crazy to miss an entire week of class during my sophomore year of veterinary school! As it happened, the experience was invaluable and as educational as anything I’ve been taught in the classroom, plus I can’t think of a better way to have spent my 31st birthday.
I knew that the need for our service was great in Tulum, and it only took a few minutes or driving around the town to understand why. Every time we turned the corner there were dogs and cats trying to find shade from the heat, scavenging for food, scratching endlessly at their mange infested skin and barely avoiding impacts with moving cars. We had also been forewarned that the local animal control officers had been rounding up and killing stray animals as well as people’s pets, therefore it made our mission that much more important.
 After setting up the clinic at Karen and Gary’s fabulous clean and air conditioned space, we were ready to get to work. Signs around the town directed the local people to us, and shortly after we opened our doors on the first morning we had a line of pets and owners ready to receive veterinary care.
A few local children also brought their exotic pets, two kotamundi (raccoon like mammals) for show and tell. Although our main service was that of performing spays and neuters, we treated a wide variety of health problems. We also were fortunate enough to be able to offer vaccines for a very minimal fee, and much to our surprise almost all of the pet owners were interested in this service! Some of our most memorable patients were:
The sweet and quiet dalmation named Bella who was rescued by a caring local after being clubbed over the head with a metal pipe by a drunk man. In addition to treating her head wound she was spayed and her rescuer ultimately decided to adopt her permanently.
The extremely dehydrated, febrile and lethargic shepherd mix who came in on the last day of the clinic with her very concerned owner. A spay procedure had been performed by a local shelter employee (not a veterinarian) a few weeks earlier and she had not been right since. Concerned that the uterine stump that is left after such a surgery was infected, we rushed her to surgery to find that only a small piece of this dog’s uterus was missing. Therefore we were not dealing with infected uterine stump, but rather an infection involving the majority of the uterus and both ovaries which had not, in fact, ever been removed! The dog recovered and felt better right away to go home with her extremely grateful owner.
The mama dog and her young puppies from a family that lived across the street who was willing and able to nurse her young even though her body had trouble with continued bleeding and delayed healing after her spay. Dr. Holt made several house calls to the extremely impoverished home of that family during the week and made quite an impression on them!
One of the things that surprised me most was the bond that many of the local people had with their pets. I expected to deal mostly with stray animals that good Samaritans would round up and bring to us. On the contrary, almost all of the animals we treated had names and were loved and cared for by someone. Given that, it was a good feeling to know that we were able to provide veterinary care and pain management to these animals that was on par with the standards we hold for our own pets in the USA.
After each day of hard (but very rewarding) work came time to socialize and get better acquainted with our group of amazing volunteers. Many of the local restaurants donated meal vouchers to us in an effort to welcome us to their community. Each person in our group contributed something important and essential to the effort and it is an honor to know each and every one of them. Although the amount of work to be done is still substantial, it is a great feeling to know that we made a contribution to this community and the well being of the animals that make their home there.
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