Street Dog & Low Income Vet Clinic
Donation protected
Guatemala is a developing country where animal well-being is a serious problem. Many poor families have dogs to protect their homes at night or cats to kill rats and mice, but the dogs spend all day in the street looking for food and in danger of getting hit by a car, being abused by people, or being poisoned, and the cats are left to fend for themselves as well.
We have been working for over 2 years in the indigenous towns of Santa Catarina Barahona and San Antonio Aguas Calientes (14,000 people) to improve the situation for animals here. We do presentations in local schools, women's groups and city council meetings to educate people on the well-being of animals and responsibility of pets. We receive a vet student each semester from the University of San Carlos and are able to offer free consultations and do home visits at no charge. Thanks to LUSH Natural Cosmetics, we have been able to spay and neuter 100 street or low-income animals this year. Incredibly, we are seeing a difference in the way people treat their animals.
We now have low-income families showing up daily at our house in need of veterinary care, which is very encouraging!
We need to build a clinic where we can recieve their animals properly for:
free consultations
spay and neuter
at-cost medical treatments such as:
flea an tic treatments
vaccines
skin infections
digestive problems
surface wounds
injured paws
injuries from other animals (dogs, cats, porcupines) or people (machete wounds, hit by cars, physical abuse)
preventative care
We need money to build a simple clinic ($4,000) including a bathing area to treat skin conditions, to continue to spay/neuter and recuperate street dogs ($4,000 to spay/neuter 100 animals), and stock the clinic with vaccines, antibiotics, analgesics, hydrating serums, immuno-stimulants, anesthesias, vitamins and a variety of other diease-specific treatments ($4,000). This is an ambitious project with an incredibly rewarding pay-off: the lives of animals get better.
Families must complete our "Well-being of Animals/Responsibility of Pets" course in order to access free medical care for their pets. The class is 1-2 hours and once they have completed it, they will have free vet care indefinitely with us. Education is critical to continue to see encouraging changes here.
All treatments and medicines will be given at-cost: this helps people be able to care for their pets but also requires a personal investment in their animal, as well as keeps the clinic be sustainable. We can continue to buy treatments and medicine if we charge at-cost prices for them. Street dogs and pet owners in extreme poverty will still recieve the treatment they need even when it can't be paid for. Thanks to the University of San Carlos, we have a graduating vet student each semester to do their practicals, and we don't need to pay salaries.
We are truly seeing a difference in our community because of the education and free veterinary services we are providing. People who have treated animals poorly are understanding that they need to make a change and what a privilege it is to have a loyal, loving pet and that they must be cared for properly. Now that we have some momentum, we want to keep moving forward to change the future of animals in our community.
Thank you for being part of this incredible change!
Lisa
*We are a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit and donations can be sent directly*
www.bigchange.net/donate
We have been working for over 2 years in the indigenous towns of Santa Catarina Barahona and San Antonio Aguas Calientes (14,000 people) to improve the situation for animals here. We do presentations in local schools, women's groups and city council meetings to educate people on the well-being of animals and responsibility of pets. We receive a vet student each semester from the University of San Carlos and are able to offer free consultations and do home visits at no charge. Thanks to LUSH Natural Cosmetics, we have been able to spay and neuter 100 street or low-income animals this year. Incredibly, we are seeing a difference in the way people treat their animals.
We now have low-income families showing up daily at our house in need of veterinary care, which is very encouraging!
We need to build a clinic where we can recieve their animals properly for:
free consultations
spay and neuter
at-cost medical treatments such as:
flea an tic treatments
vaccines
skin infections
digestive problems
surface wounds
injured paws
injuries from other animals (dogs, cats, porcupines) or people (machete wounds, hit by cars, physical abuse)
preventative care
We need money to build a simple clinic ($4,000) including a bathing area to treat skin conditions, to continue to spay/neuter and recuperate street dogs ($4,000 to spay/neuter 100 animals), and stock the clinic with vaccines, antibiotics, analgesics, hydrating serums, immuno-stimulants, anesthesias, vitamins and a variety of other diease-specific treatments ($4,000). This is an ambitious project with an incredibly rewarding pay-off: the lives of animals get better.
Families must complete our "Well-being of Animals/Responsibility of Pets" course in order to access free medical care for their pets. The class is 1-2 hours and once they have completed it, they will have free vet care indefinitely with us. Education is critical to continue to see encouraging changes here.
All treatments and medicines will be given at-cost: this helps people be able to care for their pets but also requires a personal investment in their animal, as well as keeps the clinic be sustainable. We can continue to buy treatments and medicine if we charge at-cost prices for them. Street dogs and pet owners in extreme poverty will still recieve the treatment they need even when it can't be paid for. Thanks to the University of San Carlos, we have a graduating vet student each semester to do their practicals, and we don't need to pay salaries.
We are truly seeing a difference in our community because of the education and free veterinary services we are providing. People who have treated animals poorly are understanding that they need to make a change and what a privilege it is to have a loyal, loving pet and that they must be cared for properly. Now that we have some momentum, we want to keep moving forward to change the future of animals in our community.
Thank you for being part of this incredible change!
Lisa
*We are a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit and donations can be sent directly*
www.bigchange.net/donate
Organizer
Lisa De Mena
Organizer
Seal Beach, CA
