“You become responsible forever for what you have tamed.”-Antoine de Saint-Exupery, “The Little Prince”
Ninety thousand. All of us blink incredulously at the implications of this mind-boggling number, but this is what we came up with in our relatively conservative calculations. One hundred female cats could theoretically produce 90,000 offspring in only three years. 90,000 unwanted animals that would most likely end up being hit by cars if they are lucky enough to live long enough to open their eyes for the first time.
“Conservatively speaking, this sterilization campaign alone has reduced the future population of unwanted cats and dogs by at least 50,000 animals over the next few years,” says Enrique Rodriguez Krebs, resident veterinarian at the Zihuatanejo Humane Society ( – HKP, A.C.) that was founded by his late mother, Helene Krebs Posse, in 1982. “People tend to think of us primarily as some sort of animal shelter and pet adoption agency,” he adds, “but our true goal is to end the suffering of all animals, and the best way to make sure there are not thousands of homeless, hungry and sick cats and dogs wandering the streets is to control the population of unwanted animals through our free sterilization campaigns.”
During the latest spay and neuter campaign – the Humane Society’s third one this year – 170 cats and dogs were sterilized over a period of two weeks, bringing the total to 350 successful operations for this year alone. The goal, says Natalia, Enrique’s sister and president of the non-profit organization, is to operate on 500 animals per year.
In addition to performing the operations at Casa Marina, the Humane Society’s home in Zihuatanejo, for the first time they also set up a clinic in Barrio Viejo for three days in an effort to start educating the rural population about the benefits of sterilizing their animals. There were considerable obstacles to overcome. Local officials were reluctant to give importance to an issue concerning animal welfare and failed to promote the campaign sufficiently. Unaccustomed to considering their animals as anything more than a pest control and security system, owners were unaware of their responsibilities and choices in controlling the number of animals around their properties and last but not least, the Centro de Salud, the local public health center, had just been freshly painted and employees there were suddenly reneging on their promise of making the installations available to the visiting veterinarians. After a slow start during the first two days with only 18 animals sterilized, the word finally spread and 30 animals were sterilized on the last day in Barrio Viejo. “Almost all females,” adds Enrique, “and they are actually a lot more difficult to operate than males. But people tend to not worry about their male animals as much because they do not bring a litter of kittens or puppies home with them. It will take us a little more work to convince them to bring the machos, too.”
“It was an interesting experience,” Natalia nods, “and it made us very aware of the importance of education. Our next step will be the initiation of an educational campaign in all the schools. If we start with the children, they will eventually teach their parents at home.”
For that, everybody at Casa Marina agrees, they will need help. “Right now we are financing all of the organization’s work through the sale of our t-shirts and through our annual membership drive,” says Cristina, another key member of the Humane Society. “This year’s fundraising event produced enough money to pay for the medical equipment and medicine for three sterilization campaigns and the operational costs of our small animal shelter, but for the educational program we will need to buy some computer equipment, a small sound system and an LCD projector – and that’s a lot of t-shirts to sell!”
Thanks to the help of Dr. Yolanda Hernandez, a very experienced visiting veterinarian from the Hagenbeck Foundation in Mexico who performs the spay and neuter operations free of charge, all sterilization campaigns so far have been resounding successes. With more than 350 animals operated, there have been few complications and no losses. Some of the animal patients even got extra treatment for additional medical conditions. “We have been seeing a number of cases with TVT’s – transmittable venereal tumors – and Dr. Hernandez removed them at the same time she was performing the sterilization. She manages to treat all these conditions, make recommendations to the owners, prescribe the necessary medication and perform 28 to 32 operations a day.”
While the operations are provided for free, The Humane Society gladly accepts voluntary contributions from the animal owners, however small they may be. “A few pesos here and there may already pay for the sterilization of an additional cat or dog,” says Enrique, “and we are always glad to accept donations for more sterilization and medical equipment.”
The Humane Society deeply appreciates the support it has received not only from the Hagenbeck Foundation in Mexico who funds Dr. Hernandez’ work, but also from their local volunteers and sponsors. “The Lara family, owners of the Hotel Raul Tres Marias in Zihuatanejo, provided 15 days of accommodations and breakfast free of charge to Dr. Hernandez and her assistant, and Caroline Montuijk has been instrumental in helping us deal with the logistics of the campaigns,” says Natalia. “We cannot thank them enough.”
In order to be able to make an even bigger impact on animal welfare in Zihuatanejo next year, the Humane Society plans to organize another fundraising event in February. This time, a number of people have promised their help, and they hope to turn the event into a small eco-awareness festival with educational plays and games for children, movies, music and food. “Maybe we can realize our big dream one day,” Natalia adds dreamily, “to build a beautiful animal shelter with an on-site veterinary hospital and treatment facility for all of our more exotic patients – the injured pelicans, turtles or sea lions – and a small adoption center that manages to find a loving home for all the stray cats or dogs that come our way. Until then, we will continue to make sure we will have fewer unwanted homeless animals to worry about in the future.”
At press time, another sterilization campaign was underway with ten days of clinics in Zihuatanejo, Troncones and Buena Vista. And plans were well underway for their Third Annual Cocktail and Membership Drive Fund Raiser to be held in March, keep checking in wth Casa Marina for more information. SPAZ-HKP would like to thank all of their volunteers, donors and members for their kind support.
You can help the SPAZ-HKP by:
-Buying their t-shirts at all the shops in Casa Marina;
-Donating cash or medical equipment;
-Donating collars, leashes, pet carriers, and dry dog and cat food;
-Adopting a puppy or kitten.
All adoptable animals are vaccinated and sterilized. If you live abroad, the SPAZ-HKP will help gladly assist you with the necessary paperwork to take your animal home with you.
Sociedad Protectora de Animales de Zihuatanejo – Helene Krebs Posse, A.C. is located in Casa Marina (next to the basketball court on Playa Principal) on Paseo del Pescador, Colonia Centro, in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero
For inquiries and information,
call (755) 554-2373 or visit www.zihuatanejo.net/spaz
Email: spaz.zihua@hotmail.com
