Dog Shelter In Mexico Update

In the last post, I talked about balance. Hmmm... Right now the scale is tipped way over toward dog rescue. Here's an update on how things are coming along with the shelter. If you want to read about each stage in more depth, I'll provide the appropriate links to the shelter blog, Friends of RCA Colima.

click to see lots of before photos 

I rented an abandoned house. It's large and excellent for our purposes, and the owner is installing light and water.

click here to see all the clean-up action

Next step was to clean the floors. A whole crew of volunteers worked all last Sunday and cleared out three years of debris. Then the concrete floors were hosed down and scrubbed with soapy water. A lovely neighbor let us hook up hoses to her house, since our water wasn't hooked up yet.

click here for photos of the installation process

We got electricity! Yeah! Now we can work later into the evening.

This afternoon we will finish cleaning bat guano off the walls. Our team of young neighbor helpers is awesome, and keeps growing.

Click to go to the Facebook album with more photos of planting the gardens.

A neighbor offered us plants, and last night we cleaned out the weeds and put in a lovely garden in front of the refugio. As we worked, more and more neighbors gathered to help. I love Mexico!

click for dog pen instructions

In the meantime, we are working on building dog pens in my garage. Whew! It's a LOT of work but also saves a ton of money, which is in short supply. Complete step-by-step instructions for building a 1 meter by 1 meter pen are here. The cost for a pen (no roof) is about $25.

We are also filing the necessary papers with the city. We will be the first legal in-city shelter in Colima, complete with inspections, etc. We're compiling a resource notebook for the shelter in English, and Marissa will be translating the relevant parts into Spanish over time. Looks like our Spanish language shelter resource guide will be a first for Mexico. Woohoo!

If you would like to contribute to Refugio Cachorros y Abuelitos (Safe Haven for Puppies and Good Old Dogs), you can do so through Friends of PATA. They are a US non-profit set up to collect contributions for Mexican animal rescue organizations. Just specify that your donation is for RCA Colima, or put my name, Mary Carol Moran. If you live in the US, the donation is tax-deductible.

Thanks, everyone, for following along on our adventures! Giant world group hug!

Here are some other posts about our animal adventures.

• Love, rescue, spay, neuter, adopt out, vaccinate, and have fun with dogs!
• Miracle Puppy Needs Our Help
• Mighty Hercules: The Story of a Puppy 
• 519 Spay/Neuters in 5 Days!
• Dog Agility: Homemade and Fun!
• How to Build a $5 Dog Agility Jump in 10 Minutes
• Colima Mexico FREE Spay/Neuter Campaign, Day 1

Balancing Parenting, Publishing, and Dog Rescue! #TBSU

Today's post is an emotional check-in for me. Perhaps your feelings will resonate with mine.

Publishing Novels

Carole Remy is a writer, and I created this blog to sell her novels. Sometimes I feel like I really am Carole Remy, the alternate me. Other days I can write about her in the third person. Today is one of the 'other days.'

photo by Anita Peppers

Carole has repeated many steps of the writing process over the past several years. Here's her curve. (Skip the list if you want. It's here as an encouragement to hang in.)

write Beauty of the Beast

quick success with a well-known publisher

write Fantasy Impromptu 

get scared and wait a year to show anyone

more success with the same publisher

write Twelve Nights

do other stuff

write Who Is Candid?

live life

write Ophelie

write the sequel to Ophelie (as yet unpublished)

several years of other stuff

three novels published with indie publisher

ten year gap [meanwhile, Mary Carol Moran, the other me, is writing and studying poetry] 

many poems and two collections nicely published

along comes Kindle! wait several years...

Kaboom! five previously published novels now available on Kindle

What It Means...??

Though seven of my books (novels and poetry collections), have found generous and helpful publishers, mostly I've lived my life doing other things than writing. I'm a binge writer. Maybe some of you can relate. When the mood hits, I write a novel flat out, sometimes in as little as two weeks. Editing takes forever, but I'm one of those lucky writers who actually loves every step of the editing process. Maybe I should thank all those years of revising poems, word by word.

The past has given me enough confidence and life-cushion that, while I love and get excited by book sales, they don't define me. Separating your ego from your artistic creation is almost impossible; I'm nowhere near there! A benefit of having a pseudonym, perhaps, is that Carole Remy's success is a little bit separate from the joy of day to day life.

I figured out early on that writing wasn't likely to bring in a lot of money. [From a Law of Attraction perspective, I have a limiting belief that writing won't bring me the big bucks. Naughty me, but I can live with it. There are worse beliefs.] Over the years, I've made way more money teaching and coaching other writers than I've made from my own books. The fact that Amazon sends a sweet little check every month is a pure fun bonus.

The Power of Distraction

Maybe I'm not really a dedicated writer, or maybe I'm living a balanced life.

Me with my two amazing and lovely daughters!

Raising my children never slipped from being my top priority. As a single mom, that meant finding a job that I loved AND that paid enough to keep us going = teaching. Writing took a back seat. A nice big comfy armchair back seat, but still not in the front row.

For the last six months, I've put the Kindle novels not only in the front row, but in the driver's seat. I've lived, eaten, breathed Amazon, blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, book blog tours, and every other method of building a social platform. It's fun and I love it. But a part of me still understands the value of diversity. My Mom always used to say, "Make sure you always have more than one string to your bow."

With a friend, Marissa Lepe Preciado, and lots of supporters, I'm moving more and more into the consuming realm of dog rescue. Just as dog rescue keeps me from focusing exclusively on book promotion, so the books keep me from submerging tooooo deeply into rescue. Either can easily become all-consuming to the point of burnout. As kids and writing did in years past, now dogs and writing will help me keep life in balance.

I love blogging!

The greatest lesson for me from the last six months is the realization that I truly love blogging! Thank you to every single reader for sharing my life, hopes, depressions, elations, and occasional aha moments. The immediacy of blogging offers satisfactions that even novel-writing lacks. Each genre has its seductions: the world-building of novels, the joy of expressing a precise emotion in poetry, and the back-and-forth instant readership/response of blogging.

by duane j

Yesterday I began a new blog, Friends of RCA Colima, to chronicle the building and ongoing operation of our dog shelter, Refugio Cachorros y Abuelitos (Safe Haven for Puppies and Good Old Dogs). I'll provide links here on this blog, as well as occasional direct updates.

My goal is still to publish at least ten articles a month here on Carole Remy. The focus will shift a little more toward writing, editing, publishing, and building a platform. If you are interested in animal rescue, I invite you to follow my blog Friends of RCA Colima. I'll try for ten posts a month there as well. Another four posts a month, focused mainly on emotional issues, appear every Saturday on Skelations. Lastly, if you prefer or want to brush up your Spanish, the Facebook page for all our animal activities is Amigos de Perros y Gatos Colima.

Thank you!!

Once again, thank you so much for including me in your world. Giant group hugs for everyone! Let me know your thoughts and feelings in the comments! What is your writing arc? Are you more a binge writer, or a steady writer? How do you balance different worlds? I look forward to a lively discussion.

Check out these related posts by gifted writers who share their perspectives on writing and life.

• Encouraging Words from Aubrianna Hunter 
• Encouraging Words from Nathalie Thompson
• Encouraging Words from Kevin Hanrahan
• Encouraging Words from Seumas Gallacher
• Encouraging Words from Ronnie L. Smith of Writer's Relief
• Encouraging Words from William Ogden Haynes

• Rescue K911 (Alabama, USA)
• For the Love of Louie *Michigan Lost Pet Lookers* (Michigan, USA)
• Save a Mexican Mutt (English language dog rescue page based in San Miguel de Allende, MX)
• Puppy Rescue Mission (rescues soldiers' companion dogs, mainly from Afghanistan)

Starting a New Dog Shelter in Mexico! #TBSU

The exciting news I hinted at a few days ago has come to pass. Shortly before midnight on July 10, 2013, I signed the papers to rent the building which will become our urban dog shelter in Colima, Mexico. The TO DO list is six pages long, and our all volunteer group is working 24/7 to get everything in place to open on 01 August.

Several friends have asked me to document the process of creating an animal shelter. We are doing everything on less than a shoestring! Total start-up cost, including a year's rent in advance, will be under $2000. Used, homemade, and donated are the mantras, except for medications which are the bulk of the costs.

We've applied for non-profit status in Mexico for our association. The shelter is one branch of our goals, which also include sterilization and vaccination campaigns, educational outreach, and promoting the many animal organizations in the state through our very active Facebook presence. The Facebook page is in Spanish, but the photos are universal is if you'd like to take a look.

Within a few days, we'll have a blog for the shelter and I'll mostly direct you there for updates. But for tonight, I'd like to share with you the excitement of our first day, working to clean out the three-year-abandoned unfinished house that will in less than three weeks be home to many rescued dogs. FYI, by policy, I don't share names or personal information about children in photos. All photos are published with permission.

First step was to clean up the street view. The house was overrun with weeds, and we figured the other houses on the street would be happy to have a more presentable neighbor! As a side note, the neighbors have been very welcoming and friendly. It helps that I live a half-block away and already know many of them. The last thing we need is complaints to the city about our dogs, and we're hoping to head those off before they occur.

We started by sweeping out the premises. Sounds simple, but three years of dust and debris filled about 12 large garbage bags! Pictured here, Marissa Lepe Preciado, is the president of our association. She's a medical doctor studying to become a veterinarian, and a driving force behind the shelter.

Some of our best workers were neighborhood children! These two lovely sisters have a boxer named Chacho who loves to participate in our Dog Agility Club on Saturdays. They were the first to arrive this morning, and worked like Trojans all day. I explained the meaning of "trooper" to them; these are two girls we definitely want on our team!

We thought we might have to stop after sweeping, since the water isn't connected yet. But one of our neighbors stepped in and let us run hoses from her house. Thank you!!

To say we all got soaked is an understatement! Luckily, it was hot as blazes, and nobody minded. We swept the soapy water into the shower drain in the bathroom. It never stopped up. Whew!

Marissa and Sol are working on the front bedroom, where we'll keep the new dogs in quarantine pens until their blood tests are complete and we're sure they won't spread any diseases.

This is the back bedroom which has about three times the space you can see in the photo. This room is our maternity ward, with room for at least four litters in spacious enclosures with space left over for another large fenced area for random puppies. A wonderful volunteer family is donating a special paint for the floor, which will help us keep the room spotless.

Turning lemons into lemon trees, this small unconcreted area in the lobby worried me a bit until we decided that it will be the perfect indoor garden!

Here the whole team is scrubbing out the kitchen area, which will be our consulting/surgery room. Our hope is to have vets onsite most of the time. We're offering recent vet graduates (top of the class!) free space in exchange for taking care of our animals and for providing low cost services for local residents. Win, win, WIN!!

This will probably be an open area for our older dogs. Our plan is to take in pregnant females, mothers with litters, abandoned puppies, and older difficult-to-adopt dogs. We want to provide the best possible start in life, and the most comfortable end of life experiences for our shelter animals.

My favorite photo of the day! Our youngest volunteer really putting her back into her work! Mexican families raise great kids!

In addition, the huge room will be excellent for spay/neuter campaigns, with space for up to five simultaneous surgeries. The lobby (aka carport) will be a great recovery space. Here are two of our young volunteers, speeding the suds and water out into the big backyard.

Tomorrow the yard will be cleared by a contractor. It's about as big as the house, plenty of play space for all the pooches. Since we also run the Dog Agility Club, you can bet we'll have plenty of play equipment out back!

Mid-afternoon, another wonderful neighbor stopped by and offered to give us plants for all the front gardens. She has an amazing nursery in her yard, and our street front will be lovely in a few days.

Next step was to tackle the walls. The main problem was bat guano. Ugh. Our young volunteers put lots of muscle into the low parts, while the adults cleaned higher up. These aren't posed pictures. In six hours of work, there wasn't a single complaint. The kids believe in the shelter just as strongly as the adults, and they are proud to contribute!

In case you think it doesn't look that bad, here's a bit of wall before!

And here's the after. Not a very exciting picture unless you just cleaned this wall! By the way, in case you are ever needing to clean off bat guano, plain soap and water and a pot scrubber work best, even better than a scrub brush. We're planning to paint next weekend, using whatever bits and pieces of gallons and colors we are donated! Should be colorful! We have a couple of artists among the volunteers. Can't wait to see what they create!

Scrubbing, scrubbing, scrubbing! The carport/lobby is on the right, and the large main room on the left.

Another one of our young, eager workers! She's wearing our association t-shirt.

And here's the whole team! Woohoo! Can you believe this many people did all that work? Huge thank yous to everyone for an awesome first cleanup day!

Do you have questions about our association, Amigos de Perros y Gatos Colima? Any thoughts or comments on our new shelter? Have you ever run or worked in a shelter? Can you give us some hints to help us avoid pitfalls and open smoothly? Please join me for a lively discussion in the comments!

Check out these related posts for more information on spay/neuter campaigns and other animal rescue activities in Colima:

• Love, rescue, spay, neuter, adopt out, vaccinate, and have fun with dogs!
• Miracle Puppy Needs Our Help
• Mighty Hercules: The Story of a Puppy 
• 519 Spay/Neuters in 5 Days!
• Dog Agility: Homemade and Fun!
• How to Build a $5 Dog Agility Jump in 10 Minutes
• Colima Mexico FREE Spay/Neuter Campaign, Day 1

Some fellow writers/bloggers/animal lovers, in the spirit of The Blog Scratchers Union, #TBSU!

• Kevin Hanrahan
• Sapphyria's Steamy Book Reviews
• Molly Ann Wishlade
• Aubrianna Hunter

Wow and Thanks! Ophélie is a TOP PICK on Night Owl Reviews! #TBSU

Giant swell of gratitude tonight! Ophélie has a great new review on Amazon, AND is a TOP PICK on Night Owl Reviews! I promise not to gush on and on, but wow, this is exciting!

link to Night Owl Reviews

Here's the review on Night Owl Reviews. It spills the beans on my real name, but what the heck.

Ophélie is a short but intense narrative of love, passion, lust, vulnerability and sensuality. These are conveyed by the gifted quill wielding author ~ figuratively speaking~, Mary Carol Moran. Ms. Moran does an extraordinary job of presenting the other side of psychology that may be hidden deeply beneath our deepest sexual fantasies. Through her writing we see a mind altering tale of eroticism.

Ophélie is an all adult read with a variety of acts of wild carnality that can only be appreciated and understood by a mature adult. Ms. Moran paints graphic portraits through a series of dreams held deep within the heart and mind of Ophelia. Ophélie appears to be plagued with the “good-girl syndrome” many older women 60's/70's + experienced via the indoctrinations regarding sexuality by parents, guardians and the religious sector. I could feel Ophelia’s reluctance to free herself with her beloved husband Wes as she appears to hold fast to those repressed notions to share her entire self with her mate. Although she would love to fly freely into the intimacies with her husband, Wes, she experiences a sense of restraints. I could identify with Ophélie and her ideas of letting go to enjoy all the wonders of intimate abandonment with a totally committed partner.

Ms. Moran's narrative Ophélie delivers a steamy and euphoric state of being in the dream state. It’s a place where fantasies can come true, without being judged by others. No one knows what is behind the veil of pleasure stored in one’s mind. Ms. Moran incorporates all of the elements of a steamy erotic story that encompasses the mind, body and soul of the reader. She takes her mature audience on a ride that can only be accomplished by a creative, open minded writer lacking inhibitions of sexual content.

There is an abundance of sexual tension, frustration, and conflicted emotions between Ophélie, Wes and Scott. Scott and Ophélie have an electrifying attraction that is ironic and I enveloped myself in their escapades.

Scott and Ophélie are colleagues in the field of psychology and know the inner workings of the subconscious. There are other characters that impact the flow of Ophélie and her state of being: George and Brian.

I loved the psychology of inserting BDSM, race, suicide, youth and wild imaginations. It showed the shadows a creative mind can build. Ophélie shows those elements being transformed into the physical, mental and emotion realms. 

Are the carnal, titillating moments of sensuality only a figment of Ophélie's over active imagination or a reality? The mind is the environment where all fantasies may eventually become reality. Right?!

Ms. Moran’s approaches of the world of erotic fantasies and the psychological elements made the book, Ophélie, more entertaining for me since I enjoy the mind games played out in the personal psychosis we all share at some point.

Ophélie is a short must read for the summer perhaps on the way to a relaxing environment where whatever happens in _____stays in _____. :-))

Worldwide Links to Buy Ophélie

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon Canada

Amazon Germany

Amazon France

Amazon Italy

Amazon Spain

Amazon Japan

Amazon Brazil

Amazon India

Leave a comment if you'd like. I'd love to chat! Night All! Sweet dreams! There might be some fantastic dog rescue news tomorrow. Fingers crossed! Hugs for everyone!!

Live in Joy, Today! #TBSU

This past week, I've lived in a different world, immersed in the animal rescue sub genre of spay/neuter. The campaign lasted five days. We spay/neutered about 150 cats and dogs; the camaraderie was joyful; the connection to the four-legged beasts was intense; and the physical exhaustion is still with me.

Why does such an experience come into a person's life? The Law of Attraction states that we attract experiences into our lives through our vibration. Feel joy, get more joy. Feel frustration, get more frustration. I'll go a step further and posit that what happened for me this time is that some interior subconscious nerve center sent out a message that I was ready to learn something more about myself, to peel back another layer of the never finished onion.

Six Months of Bliss

Moving to Mexico in January 2011, where I can't work because of my visa, forced/allowed me to relax from wanting to achieve anything.

I lived happily in the moment, with enough money to live what felt like really well. My pension didn't quite make it through the month in the US (and didn't leave any room to buy health insurance). Suddenly I had plenty to rent a nice house, eat out whenever I wanted, learn salsa dancing and wood sculpture, and hire a wonderful woman to clean. Free top quality health care was an incredible bonus and anxiety reducer!

The Seeds of Wanting More

Then about two years ago, I spent an interval in the lap of big time luxury. Anything I wanted was bought for me. I was taken on a lovely trip, all expenses paid. Returning to Mexico, the seeds of discontent awoke. My beautiful life was exactly the same, but it didn't feel like plenty any more. I began to want the money to start an extensive animal shelter. I began to want, period. An old internal barrier to happiness reawoke.

With the benefit of two years hindsight, I see now that I had already begun to be attracted to seductive friends, ambitious wonderful people who wanted and were attracting fame and fortune. Exactly the people to eventually bring me to my present day awareness.

Putting my Novels on Amazon Kindle

In January 2013, I made the decision to put my backlist novels on Amazon. It was something I'd been thinking about for years, and suddenly the time seemed right. Two of the novels had been quite successful in print, and I saw Kindle as a way to bring in passive income to run an animal shelter.

I threw myself into action, setting up a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and this blog. Formatting the novels for Kindle, and contracting beautiful covers. Dipping my toe in the deep waters of Goodreads (which I still haven't figured out). I loved it. I still love it!

Working is seductive. Anyone who has tried retirement knows this. The temptation to find your identity in what you do, in external monitors of success, is overwhelming.

But...

The harder I pushed, the more elusive external success became. With zero expectations, my first novel shot to #1 on its initial KDP free days. Woohoo! Few sales, but my name was getting out there. Then the KDP free day promotion for the second novel, with high expectations, was a flop. Six months of ten hour days, seven days a week produced only a small check from Amazon every month.

Slowly social networking became a bit of a chore, still fun, but whew! A lot of work. The impulse to push, push, push, began to feel a little off. Then with a huge aha, I realized that I don't need to fund an animal shelter myself. Colima is doing GREAT on the animal rights front, with eleven protection associations and new legislation criminalizing animal abuse. From exactly where I am right now, I can help all I want. Without the financial impulse, the promotion began to feel even more like work.

Ambition is Not Present-Centered

When we focus on future success, we project wanting. From the Law of Attraction, we know that wanting can only bring more wanting. The deeper truth is that even when we get exactly what we prescribe, the Amazon ranking, the agent, the publisher, we will only want more. The movie deal, better promotion of our masterpiece, the billion dollar success of J. K. Rowling. Several well-known authors are good friends. Only one of them, Anne George, was truly happy with her publisher, and Anne was already about the happiest person I knew, surprised and pleased by every publishing success, small or huge.

So why did I attract someone who indulged my unacknowledged desire for wealth? Why have I surrounded myself with dear ambitious friends? Why have I put my novels on Kindle and worked my butt off for six months?

We can only feel JOY right now 

I did all these things because in some corner of my heart, I hadn't completely accepted that living right now is the only joy. A piece of me still believed in the IF-ONLY scenario. If only I had LOTS of money, I'd be happy. If only my novels would sell a boatload of copies, I could help animals. Last week was the final piece of that jigsaw puzzle, when I was neck deep in helping the four-legs, without needing anything other than my presence.

Another impulse toward living in this moment, right now, is my elderly dog. Gemma is twelve, and my desire to travel, to plan fun trips to see relatives and/or exotic places, has been put on hold. Gemma no longer does well when I leave, so I'm not leaving. Simple. Equally disastrous for me is the future scenario of her death. I refuse to spend our last months unhappily anticipating the future without her. Not. Happening. Every hug, every walk, every snore in the middle of the night is pure joy!

What does it all mean?

Last Saturday (July 6, 2013) my guest post on living in the present was published by Skelations. Another take on the same topic will be published there on July 27. I've taken a week off promoting and proven to myself yet again that the sky did not fall. Relaxing now with the physical aches of a sore hip and the remnants of overall exhaustion, a couple of layers of the emotional onion have peeled back.

One realization for me is that I want my novels to be available. I want them out there in the public marketplace. Selling or not selling is nowhere near as relevant as availability. So thank you, Amazon Kindle. Huge thank you! The people who like my novels REALLY like my novels. That's what matters. One reader who writes me because they 'get it' is a lifelong connection that I would miss out on if the novels weren't for sale worldwide.

Another realization is that I can do exactly as much or as little as feels enjoyable in the moment. If I don't post for a few days, so be it. Without pressure, the fun comes back. I really do love tweeting! Thank you to my generous, funny, and loving Twitter friends! Even Facebook is mostly awesome, and I love keeping in touch with people's lives through their photos and updates.

Yet another reminder recently is that I LOVE the intellectual side of writing, reading, and discussing novels. James McAllister and I have started a correspondence about his amazing and complex novel iNation, and I'm loving it! Molly Ann Wishlade and I share ideas and encouragement on our novels all the time. I love reading the thoughtful posts of  Thomas Rydder (My Road to Better Writing), Cassandra Page (Writing), Kristen Lamb (everything!), James McAllister (iNation), and many, many more wonderful writer bloggers!

Anyone who would like to talk novels, contact me! Huge advance hugs!

I don't want anything!

The final layer for me is to say happily and openly, I don't want anything!! Woohoo! Repeat after me, I don't want anything! I don't want ANYTHING! Life right this instant, this very second, is complete and amazing and plenty.

link to the recipe on The Furious Pear Pie blog

“I got the blues thinking about the future, 

so I left off and made some marmalade. 

It’s amazing how it cheers one up 
to shred oranges and scrub the floor.” 

D. H. Lawrence

Please join me for a lively discussion of all things writing and publishing, or whatever else you'd like to talk about! I look forward to your comments.

Check out these related posts on writing and publishing:

• Publish or Perish vs the Law of Attraction
• Wait! Change! It's the Law of Attraction!

• Synopsis Day at the Novel Writers Workshop #TBSU

• Creating Guidelines for Writers' Critique Groups #TBSU
• Developing Your Voice: Novel Writers Workshop #TBSU

Please click on the embedded links to several amazing blogs, today's contribution to The Blog Scratchers Union!

Photo Essay: Spay of a Female Dog in Mexico #TBSU

This post is a little off the beaten track for my blog, but I'm immersed in a spay/neuter campaign at the moment! If you've ever wondered what happens when a female dog is spayed, here's your chance to watch it all. We are at a FREE week-long government sponsored spay/neuter campaign in Colima, Mexico. We'll follow the beautiful golden retriever Kenya from arrival to recovery.

Kenya has been tranquilized, shaved for surgery, and at the last minute, anesthetized. Her two slightly nervous owners are on the right. The vet students who prep the animals are on the left.

Kenya's tongue is protected from accidental bites by a piece of plastic, actually the snipped end of a syringe cap.

She's on the table, and the veterinarian, Enrique Benitez, is putting on sterile gloves. Enrique is a master surgeon. Watching him work is like watching a well-choreographed ballet.

The incision is tiny, maybe an inch and a half.

Here's the first ovary.

Internal ligatures are made with plastic cable ties, snipped short.

The second ovary. The bits at the back are fat. Kenya gets a mini-liposuction!

Total concentration.

The uterus. Enrique will pull the plastic tie tight and slice above it.

Uterus and ovaries. Bye bye!

It takes three levels of sutures to close Kenya back up. The innermost level is the peritoneum and muscles. Enrique will put several sutures at each level.

The next level of sutures is through the fat.

The top level of sutures is through the skin, and these are invisible. No need to go back to get the stitches removed. Doesn't she look fantastic? Like I said, Enrique is a really gifted vet!

Kenya's owner celebrating with and congratulating Enrique! A beautiful success! Kenya is still sound asleep. The surgery only took a few minutes.

So now you know. You've just watched a skilled vet perform a spay with good anesthesia, but everything else pretty basic! We're outdoors, trying to stay cool in the shade under a tree.

Even though this post is in English and everyone in the photos speaks only Spanish, I want to take this opportunity to thank all the responsible pet owners both here in Mexico and around the world! Spaying or neutering your four-legged family member is the best gift you can give them, yourselves, and all the rest of us!

I'll be posting soon about how you can contribute to our efforts to spay/neuter, vaccinate, and control parasites here in Mexico. The Colima city government is an excellent partner in sponsoring four free spay/neuter clinics a year. Every animal adopted from Animal Control is also spay/neutered for free in the main office all year.

But even here, everyone in the campaign except the two government vets are unpaid volunteers, and many of the supplies are donated. It only costs about $20 US to spay, and even less to neuter, a cat or dog. Start saving your spare change, and next go round we'll be asking for your help! If you'd like to participate directly, I have two comfy guest rooms. Come on down!

I'll be happy to translate your comments and get answers to your questions for Enrique. Please join us for a lively discussion in the comments!

Check out these related posts for more information on spay/neuter campaigns and other animal rescue activities in Colima:

• Colima Mexico FREE Spay/Neuter Campaign, Day 1
• Dog Agility in Mexico - An Awesome Day! 
• Love, rescue, spay, neuter, adopt out, vaccinate, and have fun with dogs!
• Miracle Puppy Needs Our Help
• Mighty Hercules: The Story of a Puppy 
• 519 Spay/Neuters in 5 Days!
• Dog Agility: Homemade and Fun!
• How to Build a $5 Dog Agility Jump in 10 Minutes

Colima Mexico FREE Spay/Neuter Campaign, Day 1

We finished a bit earlier than expected today with the first day of the spay/neuter campaign, so I thought I'd take advantage and post a few photos. If you missed yesterday's post, the city of Colima, where I live, is offering FREE cat and dog sterilizations this week, through the auspices of Control Canino y Felino. CCF is the government agency in charge of the well-being of domestic animals in the city. It's kind of like Animal Control in an American city, but with close to a 100% adoption rate of captured street animals (zero euthanasia of non-terminally-ill animals), plus free services like this week's spay/neuter campaign. Love it!!

Registration. People arrive with their pets, who are operated on in the order they arrive. Dr. Jaime Martinez Castro, DVM, the Director of CCF, is on the right.

Prep for surgery. This sweet dog has already had a mild tranquilizer, and Marissa is administering the final anesthesia before the surgery.

Surgery. Yep, the veterinarians are young and very skilled, and we are outside in a park. As you can see, the free spay/neuter is for cats as well as dogs.

Recovery time. We didn't have a lot of space, so we set up a double decker system. Each animal is monitored for temperature and heart rate until they are fully awake and can leave with their owners.

This owner is sitting with her dog while she wakes up. The young vet is giving her a shot of antibiotics.

We had fun taking photos today. The sign says, "I'm sterilized. Are you?"

Happy owners! We love that they bring in their pets. They love that the vets do a GREAT job, and that it's all free!

A little joke. The sign says, "I'm almost sterilized. Are you?"

Another happy owner!

Here are some of the team of volunteers!

Thanks for joining us today! We have four more days of FREE spay/neuters this week. I don't know if there will be time to post photos every day, but I'll be back when I can. Hugs to you all, and have a totally wonderful week! Please leave comments if you wish! I'll answer as quickly as I can!

Check out these related posts for more information on spay/neuter campaigns and other animal rescue activities in Colima:

• Dog Agility in Mexico - An Awesome Day! 
• Love, rescue, spay, neuter, adopt out, vaccinate, and have fun with dogs!
• Miracle Puppy Needs Our Help
• Mighty Hercules: The Story of a Puppy 
• 519 Spay/Neuters in 5 Days!
• Dog Agility: Homemade and Fun!
• How to Build a $5 Dog Agility Jump in 10 Minutes

Some fellow writers/bloggers/animal lovers, in the spirit of The Blog Scratchers Union!

• Kevin Hanrahan
• Nonnie Jules
• Samantha Wood
• Regina Duke