Snip sisters.
Puerto has way too many dogs and cats, some of them strays, lots of them domestics on the prowl. To limit the population, the local pounds, dog recue centers, and municipal government s support the Snip Sisters, an organization dedicated to providing Spay/neuter service for all the colonias. Each neighbourhood has a steel roofed basketball court, ( a hurricane shelter?) that is used to host the "campaigns" to adress the issue. It,s a free service, or by donation, and advertised locally brings in 100,s of animals for treatment.
Leslie, a retired vet tech and emerg nurse is one of the sisters, and a tireless organizer. She picked me and my "wild cat" up at 7 AM . "Blackie " was easy to catch the night before and slept happily in my room on the rug. Into the cat carrier(Hey What??) and off to the colonia. Leslie drives like a Mexican, road signs are just a suggestion, and only agressive driving will beat the traffic. To turn out onto the highway she just stuffed her car across 2 lanes of traffic(they stopped) and waited for a break to cut off a taxi and squeal into the flow. We bounced onto a side road up the valley, where I,d been before on a mistaken collectivo ride. (Wrong truck, 20 miles back into the cattle country, stopping at every crossroad and tiny town till finally arriving at the terminus, a dusty square consisting of a church(locked) and town hall (locked), and a dusty soccor field baking in the dust. The truck took a break and i was able to share some pastrys with the driver and his son before returning to the main road. ) This time we bounced around blind curves up into the hilly suburbs, on cement streets between cement houses, and dodging lazy dogs. Google maps gave contradictory instructions on turns, including stuff like "Go West 100 yards)( which way is west?), but we arrived at the scene well on time.
The vets were set up on raised tables at the rear of the basketball court, with piles of sterile intruments and each had a wooden trough to flop the anesthetized animals upside down for surgery. Crude but effective, an assembly(or disassembly) line. We volunteers (10) laid out a long table covered in cloth to lay out the cats after they were trimmed. The animals are quite asleep, and need to be monitored for breathing, since the anesthetic sometimes stops respiration. A quick body stroke or nose pinch and they restart. The efficiency was impressive, with a cat coming off the surgery tables every 5 minutes, and we soon had a row of furry bodies laid out close together, snoozing. Timers signaled time to flip them endo, for breathing relief. Tongues pulled out looked weird but the colour of the tongue can indicate shock. Just picture 12 cats laid side by side all sound asleep, constantly monitored for breathing or distress. These were not feral cats but loved house pets, and all in good shape, well fed and hand groomed. Pure Siamese, big fluffy red cats, tiny tabbies, old cats, kittens, Calicos, Tabbies, and speckled odd balls. I expected the little kids who hovered anxiously over their pets, but more touching were the old women who pulled up chairs and sat whispering to their favorite friends.
Recovery time varied from 1 hour to 3, depending on the cats age and condition, but they all made it. "Blackie" slept the longest, but i think the tech gave him two shots, not being sure if the first made contact through the crated bars. The flow of processed animals was even ,and the recovered cats places were filled by new patients. As each animal showed signs of recovering , they were slid into onion sacks and tied in so they could not wander off in a daze. owners were summoned, with each cat having a numbered tape on its had and each owner with the same number taped on them. we needed the sacks back, so most people had bags or boxes. One cat went into trap, with her brother into a repurposed bird cage. Most people had cat carriers, and took home their pets in pickup trucks or taxis, or just packed them off into the barrio.
Dogs came in great numbers. all sizes, all breeds, all colours. most cowed, some barkers, all a bit apprehensive. They were registered, numbered, and given collars or ropes as needed. Unlike cats, dogs were post op laid out on sheets on the cement floor. That way they cannot roll off a table and injure themselves. The distribution of places was less organized, and dogs littered the floor, with owners and 2 volunteers monitoring their recovery. No dog crates, most were loaded into a wheelbarrow and trundled out to the back of waiting pickup trucks. Mostly male dogs, which was differernt from most years when females predominated. Either case, there will be less mutts loose. the problem of packs of beach feral dogs chasing tourists was solved years ago when the police issued a notice, collar and keep dogs off the street or they will be shot. And they were, no more feral packs. There still are loose dogs, some hoping to be adopted by soft gringos, but most are collared.
Breakfast was provided for all the staff, styro packs with eggs slopped over rice and beans with fresh tortillas. Filling, as was the lunch of similar ingredients . Leslie had brought a coffee pot to jazz up the surgeons and the techs. i bought tamales from a vendor and gave one to Leslie for her sustenance recognizing how much energy she blasted out coordinating the event. Street tamales a re always a risk for me, since they often contain hot peppers. Assured these were not, I only had to pull out 2 strips of smouldering hot pepper. Tamales are one of the few street foods that are relatively safe, since they are filled with corn meal and ingrediants, then steamed in bannana leaves or corn husks. The steam heat kills the bugs.
Stats: in one 8 hour day, 100 animals spayed or neutered, with 100 more scheduled for the next day. All the people registered their animals, gave their phone numbers, and got a certificate showing their pets had been treated. Donations were encouraged. It cost over 300 pesos ($30 ) to pay the vets per animal. No one was turned away, and it was obvious some had no money. I,m unclear who paid for the meals or the staff. Hopefully the Colonia did, since they sent 6 people to help, all in crisp uniforms, and all pretty useless. It,s the gringo volunteers who do the work in recovery, sterilizing equipment, and organizing. There is a core group, and people like me are fit in as needed.
Snip sisters do at least 2 campaigns a year, subject to financing. All volunteers. It costs a lot o run, and with money spread across 2 dog shelters and a cat home the local pool is shallow. I,ve spent $100 so far.
By 4 o,clock, Leslie had to run home to fed her foster kittens, and she dropped me and "Blackie" off at Dans. He was right out of it still, so I slid him crate and all into my room with a cat litter box improvised from a garbage can lid and a plastic bag, topped with sand. He staggered out and wolfed down some tuna and crunchies, before falling out on the towel I put down. Really dozy, but Tuna cures all. He really wanted out, and I had to give him the big foot in the doorway to keep him in. I thought he,d settled down, but when i came back from watching sunset, he,d pushed open the screen door and escaped. All he left was a bad smell and a gallon of pee in the sand. Will he return? Probably. I,m the only source of tuna!