Reprinted from “Best Friends” and written by Sharon St. Joan

This past Sunday, on May 6, in Tijuana, Mexico, forty-five dogs were spayed or neutered and fourteen more dogs were treated for fleas, ticks, or mange.

The Humane Society of Tijuana, who announce on their website that they are “a Mexican humane organization, organized by Mexicans to help solve the problems in Mexico”, are making a big difference in the lives of animals in Tijuana. Street clinics and spay/neuter clinics are being set up for street animals and the animals of families who cannot afford vet care or to get their dogs spayed/neutered.

Just south of San Diego, what used to be a small border town exploded from a population of 245 in 1900 to nearly two million today. Just as people suffer from trafficking along the border and the high crime rate, animals in Tijuana also suffer greatly.

The Humane Society of Tijuana is responding to the needs of these animals.

Two more projects are planned for the near future: On May 25, a street clinic will be held for de-worming and for treating animals for fleas, ticks, and mange. The street clinic is called Clinica de Desparicitacion, and its nickname is the “Itchy-Scratchy Clinic”! The clinic will be held starting at 9 AM at the DIF Center in Salvatierra, a suburb of Tijuana. This will be run entirely by the Humane Society of Tijuana.

The second project, to be held on June 3, will be a spay/neuter clinic, starting at 9 AM, also to take place at the DIF Center in Salvatierra. This is to be sponsored jointly by United Hope for Animals and the Humane Society of Tijuana.

United Hope for Animals, in Pasadena, California, helps the animals in the low-income areas of Tijuana and Southern California. By forming a positive relationship with the management of the Tijuana dog pound (perrera), they have been able to bring about significant changes there.

In past years, the animals there were “euthanized” by electrocution. Now United Hope for Animals is able to send volunteers into the Tijuana dog pound to euthanize the dogs in a humane way. Becoming no-kill is still a long way away, and, until that becomes possible, this approach provides a much kinder ending for the animals.

Tijuana is a city in which the animals are very much in need of help, and the Humane Society of Tijuana is taking on a huge task.

How you can help

If you live nearby and you’d like to volunteer, or if you’d like to make a donation, these are the websites:

United Hope for Animals: http://www.hope4animals.org/contact.html

The Humane Society of Tijuana: http://www.hstj.org/

Photo: Humane Society of Tijuana / Leticia Coto, President