| Questions or comments? Send us an e-mail at mexicanvetproject@gmail.com |
Background to the Mexi-Can Vet ProjectWhat started out as an invitation to have a working holiday In the spring of 2010 has turned into so much more! The Mexi-Can Vet Project has grown as veterinary practices in click on this picture to link to a fabulous video clips telling you all about this project! -> Twice yearly since that first trip, Dr. Malcolm Macartney and staff from McKenzie Veterinary Services have participated in free dog and cat sterilization clinics in the small seaside towns of Guayabitos, La Penita and Los de Marcos in the state of Nayarit, Mexico. A team of vets, vet techs and tech assistants from McKenzie Veterinary Services travel to Jaltemba Bay, where for a week, they work alongside PEACE Mexico’s M*A*S*H (Mobile Animal Surgical Hospital) veterinary team and volunteers from Jaltemba Bay Animal Rescue (JBAR) at the clinics. |
Jaltemba Bay Animal Rescue (JBAR)
Jaltemba Bay Animal Rescue (JBAR) was founded by Lin Chimes in 2006 after she lost her beloved rescued street dog to poisoning. Lin saw the need for humane population control for strays and pets and so started to raise money locally to sponsor clinics. For people in this area, spaying or neutering, treating skin diseases, parasites and basic veterinary care for their pets had not been accessible or affordable. As of 2012, about 3000 pets and strays have been spayed and neutered at clinics sponsored and organized by JBAR. The difference the work of JBAR has made in the lives of animals and people in these communities is truly remarkable. The cruel and indiscriminate practice of using poison bait to control the overpopulation of dogs and cats is now much less common in this part of Mexico because of the work on Lin Chimes and her organization. There are almost no sad dogs begging for food at the periphery of the community.
PEACE Mexico
PEACE Mexico’s program, Auyda a los Animales (Help the Animals), provides a mobile animal surgical team (MASH) who travel to some 35 towns in the states of Jalisco and Nayarit. This veterinary team holds 4 day sterilization clinics where they may spay up to 125 animals. They also do school programs to educate children on pet care and empathy for animals. Dr Anthony and Dr Poly are two very skilled surgeons and very dedicated to their work. Lalo and his assistants ensure the whole clinic runs efficiently.
Volunteer teams from Canada
Canadian vet teams add manpower and provide extra surgical supplies to enable more animals to be sterilized (often over 200 animals per clinic). The Mexican pet owners at the clinics are happy and deeply moved that we would come from Canada to help their community. For us, the clinics are amazing experiences that combine long days of hard work and lots of fun with other volunteers from Mexico, Canada and the United States. Check out our slide show of the Mexi-Can Vet Project 2011.
Mexi-Can Vet Project
The goal of the Mexi-Can Vet Project is to continue to inspire others here in Canada to get involved and help out with the welfare of these needy dogs and cats, in a part of the globe where basic veterinary care is not readily available.
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Mexi-Can Vet ProjectClinic in April 2011
<- click on the picture to see lots of photos from this clinic |
Clinic in November 2011In November 2011, two veterinarians from other practices joined the south bound team. Dr Carla Bell from Saseenos Veterinary Services in Sooke and Dr Eliane Klemmensen of West Kootenay Veterinary Hospital in Rossland had a great time at the last clinic, held in a beautiful beach front villa in La Penita. They were so inspired by the work being done in Jaltemba Bay, that they each committed to having their clinics adopt/fund a sterilization clinic in other Mexican towns. Thus two towns, San Blas and Las Varas, where there have not previously been PEACE clinics, are running clinics in February 2012. Click on the picture to see lots of pictures taken at this clinic! -> |
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Another team went to Mexico in March 2012A team from McKenzie Veterinary Services participated in another clinic, March 17-24, 2012 held in Rincon de Guayabitos. The team consisted of Dr Macartney, Dr Leith Williams, Dr. Joanna Piercy (Alouette Animal Hospital in Maple Ridge), Karin Roslee our head animal health technician, and Rhiannon Cervin our tech assistant. Stay tuned for photos taken at this clinic. Be sure to check out the Adopt a Dog page on this website for the dogs that are available for adoption from this trip. |
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| If you are interested in learning more about life in this magical area in Mexico, visit www.jaltembabaylife.com. It is an area of Mexico where visitors are always welcome and the people are very friendly. We have been fortunate to have so many clients who also have a connection to the west coast of Mexico and who have seen first hand the sad state of health for many of the street animals and pets in Mexico. They have generously donated money and supplies to help fund the clinics and the programs of JBAR. |  |
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Click on this picture if you would like information about adopting a dog from Mexico. |
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How people help the Mexi-Can Vet Project
In addition to the help of many Snow Birds and local Mexican people who volunteer at these clinics, Jaltemba Bay Animal Rescue volunteers also fund raise about $1300 per clinic to cover the cost of the Mexican Veterinary team working with PEACE Mexico.
McKenzie Veterinary Services donates $3,000 to $5000 to cover the flights, supplies, and meals for the volunteer team members.
Your donations provide additional funding for surgical and medical supplies, to not only sustain these clinics, but to increase the number of animals spayed or neutered and treated at each clinic and throughout the year by JBAR. We are thankful to the many clients of McKenzie Veterinary Services have donated generously and made this project possible.
We have been fortunate to have had a great response from our local veterinary supply companies. Bayer Animal Health, Pfizer, Borderlink Veterinary Supplies, McCarthy and Son Service, Elanco and Boeringer have each contributed suitcases full of medicines and surgical supplies that we take to Mexico and use at the clinics.
A special thanks to John Forster-Coull, and the amazing team at of Victoria Compounding Pharmacy who have donated much needed antibiotics for treating tick-borne diseases in dogs. We are very grateful for everyone’s support in the past and into the future.
You can also donate directly to Jaltemba Bay Animal Rescue or PEACE Mexico.
