Animal Welfare Peru Project #6038

Spay & Neuter street dogs of Huanchaco, Peru

by The Perros Project

Project Report | Mar 27, 2022
Spring Report 2022 (and a note about the future)

By Courtney Dillard | Co-Director

Greetings to you and well wishes for a healthy and happy Spring!

Our partners on the ground recently shared reports of their activities there and we are happy to pass along the good news. Bertha, our main contact at Amigo Fiel, was pleased to report that the group's final assessment of the 2021 clinic determined that 100% of the patients recovered well from the surgery. In addition, follow-up to the clinic has allowed them to offer support to several animalistas (stray animal caretakers) in the area, including providing food and veterinary services.

Ursula from Huanchaco al Rescate also emailed us. She has recently used the funds so generously provided by our donors to make some improvements at their shelter (see photo 1) as well as to offer additional veterinary services, particularly spay and neuter services in 2022 (see photo 2).

While our partners are continuing to serve the dogs (and sometimes cats) of Huanchaco, our US based team had a very productive meeting at the end of 2021. As a team we have decided to wait to return to Huanchaco until 2023. When we do return, we will focus on empowering our partners to create long-term strategies for growing their programs and more effectively promoting animal welfare in the region. We plan to conduct the clinic with a smaller team of veterinarians and include at least three or four days of planning with our partners prior to that.

While 2023 is still a ways away, if you know anyone who would like to join us in the summer of 2023, especially people with strong planning and strategy backgrounds, please send them our way. Thank you!

Until then, we wish you the very best!

Courtney & Matt

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Nov 24, 2021
Happy Holidays from The Perros Project

By Courtney Dillard | Co-Director

We hope that this report finds all of you in good health and spirit and that you will be able to spend Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it) with your loved ones. We write to share a short report regarding our summer clinic which was managed by our local partners on the ground and the current activities there in Huanchaco, Peru. 2021 certainly threw some curveballs our way, but we are happy to relay that we were able to continue the important work there and are now thinking about the best way forward for Perros in 2022 and beyond.

In our last report we shared with you our gratitude for the determination of our local partners to make sure that the spay and neuter surgeries which had been keeping the street dog (and cat!) population at a more manageable level would continue even without us being able to be in country. By the end of September both groups had successfully planned and carried out dozens of surgeries in coordination with local veterinarians. In addition to sterilizing the animals, wellness checks were conducted and treatment was offered for minor injuries/afflictions. In many ways, these surgeries were even more important this year than they had been in the past. As many of you know, Peru has suffered quite badly from the pandemic and resources are even more scarce than they typically are in Huanchaco. Less animals on the street means that life for each one of them is less dangerous and competitive.

We're looking towards the future, our partners are planning for the holiday season. Every year we send funds so that they might be able to get some small presents for the dogs in their shelters. Favorite requests range from coats to kibble and we look forward to the pictures they will pass along from Christmas morning. Our team here in the US is also thinking about the future. The core team (Brenda, Mary, Kim and Natalie) will have a virtual meeting in December to talk about the best direction to take in the coming year. COVID has presented the Perros Project not only with obstacles, but also opportunities to innovate so that we can better serve both the people and the dogs of Huanchaco. We look forward to a fruitful conversation and will update you regarding our strategic planning as soon as we have more details. For now, please rest assured that your generous donations are being well used as we continue to work hard to make sure your dollars truly make a difference.

Warmly,

Courtney, Matt and the entire Perros team

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Jul 26, 2021
Summer Report 2021: Our Amazing Partners in Peru!

By Courtney Dillard | Co-Director

Greetings! Well, it's July and under normal circumstances our core team and new volunteers would be in Peru this month, conducting our 7th spay and neuter clinic in Huanchaco. But, of course, this last year and a half has been anything but normal and though some areas of the United States are starting to feel like they are emerging from the COVID crisis, many places, including Peru, still have a majority of their population unvaccinated and people throughout their economy severely struggling. That's why we are so humbled to report that our partners on the ground, Amigo Fiel - Huanchaco and Huanchaco Al Rescate volunteered to run the clinic themselves this year.

In January when we would have typically begun our intense planning for the clinic, it became obvious that we would not be able to travel to Peru this year. Of course this realization was very difficult, both because we felt we would not be able to make the impact we had in previous years and because we would not see our friends at Hostal Huankarute where we have performed the clinic the last several times or our partners on the ground. We reached out to Ursula at Huanchaco Al Rescate and Bertha at Amigo Fiel - Huanchaco with heavy hearts, but we also let them know we would be willing to fund the clinics if they wanted to organize them and utilize Peruvian veterinarians. Both of these amazing animalistas did not hesitate, writing back swiftly that they would take on the challenge.

After several weeks of correspondence, we decided that the Perros Project would fund surgeries for 125-150 animals over the course of three months, giving each organization enough funds to sterilize 20-25 animals a month between June and September. As fate would have it, in late spring we received our biggest single donation ever, allowing us to cover more than half of the expenses of this work. We are absolutely thrilled to be able to keep our efforts going despite the obstacles presented by the pandemic. Reports of the surgeries from the first month have been coming in and we've attached both photos from Huanchaco Al Rescate and a spreadsheet of surgeries from Amigo Fiel. Your generous support has made it possible for these organizations to make a difference during a very difficult time, not only reducing unwanted dogs (and some cats!) left to fend for themselves the streets of Huanchaco, but also giving opportunities to Peruvian veterinarians, many of whose businesses were severely affected by the pandemic. We can never express sufficient gratitude - but we'll still try : ) - THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts!

M&C (and everyone else involved!)

Attachments:

CLINICA_DE_ESTERILIZACIONES_20211.pdf (PDF)

3 Attachments

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