Sara (Current Director/Founder) went to Mexico to volunteer as a primatology field research assistant for Universidad Veracruzana in early 2017. The plan was to jumpstart faster pain recovery after a 2015 car crash . The howler monkeys were studied at a palm tree farm  near Catemaco, Veracruz. The study location was full of stray dogs. One stray, known as “Paloma” to the farm hands and scientists, came limping up to the research assistants in January 2017. Paloma appeared to have been hit by a car. So the research assistants and masters students  took her to the vet and initially cared for her. Dogs were strictly not permitted. So Sara took responsibility for Paloma and rented a house for Paloma and the animals which followed. Shelters #1 and #2 have since been established and there is a Mexican staff. A lot of dogs have been placed in Canadian homes since March 2017 and we are really just getting started. Overall between 250-300 dogs have been spayed/neutered thanks to the donations made by Flying Dogs Canada supporters. Sara is the person who tries to bring all the different facets of FDC together. She lives in Alberta with her own dogs and wears many “hats” for Flying Dogs Canada despite the fact that her Spanish is deplorable 😉   Flying Dogs Canada is Canada based and has a Canadian foster program which comprises dogs  and cats from Canada, Mexico and the USA (Texas)

About Catemaco

Catemaco is in Veracruz State in the South East of Mexico. It is a sub tropical area. It is known for its famous ”Brujos” (witches) and the yearly Brujo festival. People can quite often be seen in the local facebook “Buy and Sell” (Si Eres Catemaco) looking for black cats and touting their witchy services. This area is very lush, though jungle has been fragmented and has given way to farms. There is a strong Jarocho cowboy culture here and cowboys can be frequently seen riding into town from nearby farms. They have a very strong musical culture associated with the Jarocho lifestyle. Once a year there is a big Mojarra festival, a fish festival celebrating the “mojarra” fish.

Owing to its location, just off the highway between Coatzcoalcos (Salma Hayek’s hometown) and San Andres Tuxtla many immigrants from countries south of Mexico make their way towards the USA- via Veracruz- and may be seen hitchhiking and begging or selling things along the highway. The Catholic church in the main zocalo has many interesting events happening throughout the year and they run a very good social program to help people in need, which often includes central American “ dreamers” en route to the US.

This area is famous for wildlife watching and the Temascal experience (a sort of spa/ sauna). It is a bumpy 39km Pirata truck ride to get to the lovely Montepio beach on the Gulf.

The History of Animal Welfare in Catemaco:  

Flying Dogs Canada was established in  February 2017 around the same time that a local group of Mexican Animal activists  officially became the first registered animal non profit in Catemaco. They are called “Patitas Callejeras” (Little Street Paws) and they had been operating unofficially since 2016. They organize low cost spay /neuter events six times a year, offering local owners of dogs and cats spay/ neuter services. Unfortunately they do not have anywhere to put post operative dogs for several days. So unless a dog has an owner or somebody to care for it (a volunteer with space in their house) they are unable to target the strays. It is this niche (a place for strays to heal) that Flying Dogs Canada seeks to occupy.   Patitas Callejeras is promoting responsible dog ownership among the Mexican middle classes. They have even been pivotal in bringing cruelty cases to the attention of the Mexican authorities.    In Mexico many dogs are ”fed” but not “owned” by local people who would not even spring for the 200 peso patitas callejeras spay/neuter fee, nor would they transport their animal to an event or give the animal adequate, sanitary post operative wound care as needed. Some people just cannot afford to pay a fee even if they “should” plan for these things. At FDC we believe that spaying is pivotal to reducing the population explosion of stray dogs. So we seek out and help families who cannot afford to spay, or who have not already spayed, their female dogs.    FDC has cared for and provided veterinary attention and covered spay/neuter costs for many dogs and cats sent our way by Patitas Callejeras and  we believe that the only way to make a significant dent in the Mexican stray dog population is to offer  FREE spaying to those who cannot pay and to facilitate the spaying and aftercare of actual street dogs who would otherwise not be able to be spayed.  Where as we do recognize the importance of neutering, our resources are limited. So unless a male dog is in our care through illness or injury we do prefer to concentrate our resources on making the most impact on population control by targeting the spaying of females of reproductive age.