The operating room at one of PATA's free spay/neuter clinics

This page outlines existing and desired animal welfare programs in Manzanillo. As Friends of PATA Manzanillo (Friends) matures, these are the programs that will benefit.

Present Programs

Animal Spay/Neuter

Currently (September, 2009) there are on-going spay/neuter programs that Friends plans to help with contributions. These programs, the oldest of which began in March of 2006, have provided over 1,900 free spay/neuter surgeries through December, 2009, in mini-clinics and volume clinics.

-Spay/Neuter Mini-Clinic

This program involves a mobile, point-of-need sterilization clinic that is set up in various neighborhoods, at their request. These clinics take the operation to the need. Target users for this program are individuals without the ability to transport animals, and neighborhoods with rampant street-animal problems.

Since it's inception in May of 2008 through September of 2009, twenty-two mini-clinics have been held in seventeen different locations, with over 350 animals sterilized, an average of sixteen per mini-clinic. Currently, two mini-clinics are held each month.

-Volume Spay/Neuter Clinic

The three- to five-day volume clinic's goal is to sterilize as many animals as possible at one single location. The animal patients are a combination of owner-delivered pets and trapped strays, implementing the Trap/Neuter/Release (TNR) concept. The city of Manzanillo assists with the round-up of street animals. In addition, assistance is given to neighborhoods with feral cats, aiding them with TNR using humane traps and volunteer manpower.

Target users of this program are broad-based. There are street animals, ferals and vagabonds that are trapped and transported by volunteers, as well as pets whose owners are able to transport them to the clinic site. Since it's inception in March of 2006 through September of 2009, 939 animals have been sterilized in four volume clinics.

Adoption and Placement

There is no animal shelter serving the public in Manzanillo. Therefore, current animal adoption procedures are rather simple. Friends would like to assist in the coalescing of these efforts and help develop a cohesive adoption and placement program, as well as help fund a shelter.

The success rate of the existing adoption process is unknown as statistics, like the process itself, are difficult to get a handle on. From known adoption sources, current efforts have resulted in forty-five known adoptions in the past year.

Manzanillo's current adoption activities are mainly individual endeavors, and include:

  • Word of mouth, mainly through the posting of notices at clinics and via email;
  • Clinic advertising, veterinarians almost always have animals at their clinics available for adoption, and pictures of adoptables posted on their walls;
  • Posting of pictures and descriptions of animals available for adoption on internet forums and websites.

Public Education

There has been a fledgling animal care education campaign in Manzanillo, although, for lack of volunteers, it is currently inactive. The program involved taking former street animals into grade school classrooms and discussing animal care and providing proof that street animals can be successfully rehabilitated into loyal, loving pets. Educating the public about animal care is another area in which Friends would like to assist.

Future Programs

Future programs that Friends would like to help develop include an animal shelter and adoption center, a permanent mobile sterilization clinic and a vet scholarship fund.

Animal Shelter and Adoption Center

The goal of all of Manzanillo's animal welfare organizations as well as the city of Manzanillo, an animal shelter would be a place of refuge for animals without homes. Abandoned and at-risk animals would be rehabilitated at the shelter, and then placed into permanent homes. This important activity would have a significant impact on the health of the entire community.

Permanent Mobile Sterilization Clinic

A natural extension of the mobile spay/neuter mini-clinic currently operating on Sundays with an all-volunteer staff, a permanent mobile clinic would extend this service. This program is envisioned as consisting of a permanent staff working out of a self-contained surgery vehicle.

Veterinarian Education Scholarship

A goal of one of Manzanillo's animal welfare organizations, this program would identify individuals from low-income families who are interested in becoming veterinarians or veterinarian technicians. A scholarship fund would assist these individuals with the cost of their education.

 

Go to the top of the page
RanaQuemada logo