Articles and Stories
Sally Squintli
Laura & Dai shared this video about their dog, Sally, a VIDAS dog. Please watch and enjoy this success story. Click on the "more info" link to view the video.
Lizzie
It was our first day in Nicte Ha at a local school where we were busy converting children’s classrooms into a surgery suite, a supply depot and a recovery station. Outside under the merciful shade provided by the school’s overhanging roof we began the daily routine of admitting our patients; dogs and cats, skinny and dirty, riddled with parasites, some pregnant, some ill, some injured, some half-wild, but all loved by someone!
The first day of a VIDAS clinic is always “challenging”. We admit patients, providing physical exams and information for owners while we struggle to set up our stations, digging through boxes to find supplies that were inventoried and packed away months ago. Then we must organize ourselves and develop an efficient strategy that will hopefully carry us through the entire clinic. Into this rush and confusion wandered Lizzie.
With a box of supplies in her arms, one of our volunteers turned and was startled to see an unattended dog coming towards her. Now this wouldn’t normally be enough to startle any VIDAS volunteer. During our clinics, many street dogs wander over to see what all the excitement is about. But this dog was different. What this volunteer saw approaching her was a skinny, no skinny isn’t quite right, she was beyond skinny… she was truly a skeletal version of a Pit Bull with head down and lips dramatically curled way up showing lots of teeth!
Now you might be thinking “Oh no! A snarling Mexican Pit Bull!!! RUN!!!”. But really, this dog wasn’t snarling… it was SMILING?!!! Yes, this dog really was smiling. What was the give away? Well, it was subtle but it was the submissive posture: lips curled is generally bad, and wagging tail can go both ways, but this dog had a relaxed posture and gait, her head was down, and her ears were down, not back, and relaxed, her tail wag was one of those genuine full-body wags. She was smiling! I’ve never seen anything quite like it!
So that’s how Lizzie first smiled her way into our hearts! But I’m getting ahead of the story… when we met her, we first called her Mama. This dog had a litter of puppies somewhere. This was clear because, as skinny as she was, her teats were heavy with milk. Mama The Smiling Pit Bull turned out to be just the sweetest thing and we were all instantly smitten with her charming personality and that winning smile. I think she kinda’ liked us too!
Mama was known in the neighborhood and that same day we found her human family. Her real name was Lizzie. She was a purebred Pit Bull. She had been purchased in the US and she had been given as a present to little Juan, Aurelia and Katia by their uncle. The kids adored their dog, and so did we. But as wonderful a dog as she was, Lizzie was a bad mother. She had 5 puppies at home that she wasn’t interested in caring for. We spayed Lizzie so that she wouldn’t bring any more puppies into the world. We fitted her with brand new collar supplied by your donations and especially chosen for her, with the hopeful motto “Life is Good!” and she got a new leash that her family could use to tether her to their home so that she wouldn’t run off and hurt herself. Lizzie’s puppies, out of necessity, had already learned to eat solid food but they were not old enough to undergo anesthesia and surgery.
So if Lizzie has such a loving home why is Lizzie so skinny?
It’s hard to imagine this if you are accustomed to American pet dogs. Most of our dogs stay indoors or confined to a yard during the day. They walk on a leash and they are spayed/neutered young or they are bred only after they have matured. In the pueblos of Mexico the indoors meld with the outdoors. In fact, in most pueblo homes there are no doors so the dogs wander in and out at will. Leashes and collars are expensive and a determined dog can easily chew through a leash. Even if your dog is tied up many others aren’t and these wandering dogs will come to visit. Spaying and neutering is extremely expensive for the average Mexican and most pets are left intact and have free access to the outdoors and to each other. As a result these pets begin reproducing before they are anywhere near full grown, and they never stop. Nature rules them, they don’t have a choice. For the females this takes a serious toll on their young bodies. What little nutrition they are able to find is immediately channeled to feed their developing pups and later to produce milk for those pups at the expense of their own bodies.
Many young, skinny female dogs were spayed this year in Nicte Ha. We hope they will have a chance to put on weight and begin to have a more relaxed and safe life with their loving families, with less hormonally induced wanderlust and safe from venereal diseases like Transmissible Venereal Tumors which are easily spread and are rampant in many parts of Mexico.
As for Lizzie… we sent her home that first night after surgery. It took her just hours to chew through her new leash! She showed up on day two of VIDAS’ Nicte Ha clinic with a smile on her face and half of her leash still attached to her new “Life is Good!” collar! She was duly reprimanded by all of the volunteers, then hugged and treated to a breakfast fit for doggie kings. Lizzie came back every morning until Hurricane Emily forced us to leave Nicte Ha. Some of our volunteers bought a big bag of dog food and gave it to Lizzie’s family before we left. Little Juan and his sisters Aurelia and Katia were star students in our educational classes and I’m confident that Lizzie and her last litter of puppies are getting the best possible care from their devoted family. But I can’t help wondering if she still stops by in the morning smiling and looking for her American friends...
UPDATE: over the years, ViDAS has kept in contact with Lizzie's family. She has battled vaginal cancer (which was treated and cured, thanks to some personal donations from a few kind-hearted ViDAS volunteers) and continues to live a happy life with her now very grown up family! Lizzie visits us every year at our clinics and always greets us with the same smile and enthusiasm. Lizzie's family says that they have to watch her because ever since that first clinic, every time Lizzie sees or hears a 'gringa' (caucasian woman) voice in the neighborhood, she barrels out of the house to say hello!
Story by Dr. Grace (Celeste) Park
Please click the link below to see pictures of Lizzie through our eyes over the years.
Winky/Bart
August 13, 2009
Captain Red Bart, originally known as Little Winky, was one of a litter of 3 that arrived at the ViDAS clinic. A man had found them living outside his home and had said Winky had been attacked by a dog. Winky's eye was severely damaged and infected. The man was unsure what to do with the obviously injured and painful kitten. Luckily, Laura, founder of Coco's Cat Rescue was on hand and asked the man if he would mind Coco's taking the kitten and finding him a suitable home. He was very happy and handed him right over. He said he would take care of the other two kittens himself. They were not injured in the attack. ViDAS neutered the little guy and removed the damaged eye. One of the ViDAS vets fell in love with his spunky attitude and adopted him on the spot! He now lives in Colorado with Dr. Cindy and was renamed Bart. He has retained his spunkiness and causes all kinds of trouble in his new home!
From Dr. Cindy: Winky's name is now Bart, short for Captain Red Bart. He is growing like weed, and doesn't let the missing eye slow him down, as he happily swing off curtains and all else in our house. My 2 cats also like him, especially my younger cat, they play all the time. Regardless of his past, he doesn't have any feral behavior traits, he clearly knows he is supposed to be a pampered indoor cat, and expects us to appropriately provide for him! He is very friendly, and isn't the kind of cat who likes to hide, he wants to be with the people and other cats!
To see more pictures of Bart - click the "more info" link below.
Bella's Story
It was one of those days at the clinic that was sadder than most. The dog catcher had brought us three strays that he had picked up and wanted us to put them down. This is always the last resort and very emotional for all the of us. The dog catcher was a good man who was only doing his job. As a matter of fact we worked on one of the dogs and he adopted it; another a local woman agreed to adopt and only one very sick dog didn't survive. We didn't blame him.
Towards the end of the day he showed up with the smallest most precious puppy. He asked us to please help. Immediately we all fell in love with this tiny little girl who had arrived in the back of the big caged truck. We all put our heads together and tried to find a way to save this little girl's life. We all agreed that if we operated on her that day that she would be drowsy and maybe no one would want her – so the decision was made that we would find her a cute little collar, clean her up, get rid of the ticks that infested her body and head to Lol-Ha's Happy Hour. We all said a small prayer, crossed our fingers and agreed to meet for a drink later and see if someone in Akumal could help us find her a home.
I was the lucky one who got to cuddle her and carry her back to Akumal. I made my first stop Lol-Ha to see who was there. I ran in some good friends and begged them to watch the puppy while I ran back to my room to take a much needed shower and change. When I returned Diane, Bob and a few others had fallen in love with the puppy. They were now trying as hard as they could to think of someone who would adopt her. She just had a way – a certain sparkle in her eye.
Moments later Paul, the director at CEA, came to join us and as he came around the corner he saw the little baby and said “I've been thinking about getting a dog”...the rest is history. The crowd cheered and the deal was sealed. We took the puppy back to the clinic the next day to get spayed and vaccinated and Paul took off to Cancun on business and a side trip to the pet department.
CEA and VIDAS have always been close and supportive of each other's missions and efforts, now we really have a bond! Bella, as Paul named her, is doing great in Akumal and we all are delighted that we will be able to see her when we visit.
View more photo by clicking the link below
5820
Animals safely
sterilized by ViDAS.
