When we lived in Guatemala for three years, the poverty not only affected the people, but also the animals. While many people liked the idea of having pets, many couldn’t afford to feed or inoculate them. Many dogs, after their cute puppy months were over, ended up on the streets. Being the dog lovers we are and seeing the profound need of the street dogs in our town, we quickly became involved. We started volunteering with a local organization called Ayuda. This NGO is run by one of the most caring, tireless, selfless people I’ve ever met, Selaine. We quickly become foster dog parents, caring for dogs while trying to place them with good families. At one time we had 13 foster dogs in our yard, 2 litters of puppies, and the scared feral moms that initially abandoned them.
The experience was a great one for teaching our younger girls responsibility, it was like living on a farm with never ending chores. Madi also had the opportunity to watch and even assist in spaying and neutering clinics held in our back yard, in our town, and in towns surrounding the Lake Atitlan area. Many times we went with delegation from World Vets to do clinics in the rural areas, sometimes spaying and neutering 70-90 dogs in a day. Madi helped in the post op clinics and learned how to inoculate dogs and cats. It was a unique experience, one she probably could never have gotten in North America.
In comparison, when we moved to the states, Madi wanted to volunteer at the Humane Society. She was on a waiting list for 22 months (that’s not a typ0) and when it was her turn, she got 30 hours of community service time for cleaning the dogs stalls. Not that that isn’t important work, but she didn’t even get to interact with the dogs, due to liability. Different experiences. So we shifted back to fostering dogs, but only one at a time. We are currently on dog number 27 and counting. We work with an organization that takes dogs when they are no longer wanted, gives them medical attention if needed, spays or neuters each dog, updates their shots, and gets them ready for adoption. We are the in between stop. Each animal comes with his/her own personality and traits which may need correcting, in order to become properly socialized and adoptable. It’s been a challenging, but rewarding journey. This is Wyatt, who had such tremendous energy, we could barely get a photo of him standing still. We thought he would fit into the wild wild west, both with that name, and the attitude that went with it. Wyatt was adopted by a young couple who also had a lot of energy, which is a good thing for all involved.
This is Balou. His back right leg was only loosely attached to his body, after being hit by a car. But that didn’t stop him from using it in the most unique way. It had already healed in its own way, so the vet said it was better left alone, that Balou had already adapted to the injury, and was in no discomfort. Didn’t slow him down one bit. When he was racing around the yard, he merely tucked it up so the other three legs could do their thing. He was adopted by a woman from Tampa, and I believe, will be a rather spoiled little guy from now on–pretty sweet forever home. Balou liked being near our dog.
Here is Balou on his way to his forever home.
