Bien cerrado

chatting with the vet about housing

This past Saturday I had another spay pop up clinic in my house. I went smaller this time because mostly I had to ReSpay my three street females from incomplete spays from another vet 2 years ago.

I didn’t know it was a thing. What vet would leave ovaries and let a dog in rescue go through heat all the time? An incompetent one. A lazy one.

But the surgeries took an hour each instead of 20 min for a regular spay so we started at 730am (I had the vet come in the night before and put him in a hotel because there’s only one bus from here or to here from Hermosillo a 4.5 hour ride) he got in at midnight. The bus broke down once. But he said other than that it was fine. He slept. Hotel was about $30.

Brindy, Suzy, Cookie and then baby Teddy were first then I opened up for pre-arranged “public” dogs and some street ladies.

There was no helper this time and the “other rescue lady” moved back to the city when her husband got transferred and wasn’t here to talk to me like a moron and be a cockblocker gatekeeper for the vet. She acts like he’s beyond conversation and not to ask him questions and it turns out he likes Marilyn Manson and chats quite a bit. Super chill. He asked me to buy him shrimp to take back home with him. An easy morning.

He encouraged me to look in other pueblos in the state. Something more civilized, he said, this place is ROUGH and you can do rescue work all over the state, if not the country. And I say yesssss I’ve been looking for years but it’s tricky to take a pile of dogs on a road trip and just “look around” for a new house in a new town. Also we don’t have a car.

*We’ve stalled on the car fundraiser at $1960usd, which is nice but won’t get us far. I could rent a van and that would be fine by me. Sorta don’t want a car. In most Mexican towns, it’s not necessary.

He showed me some pretty valleys near the mountains “La Sierra” near the border and it’s less desert and more green valleys and they have tiendas and more local foods and things brought in from US and Hermosillo. An hour out of town and PAVED ROADS, which is the issue with this place. Well, ONE of the issues.

I asked if he has been to the US and he said yea, and he hates it. It’s BIEN CERRADO, it’s so closed and everyone is in the car and no one is walking on the streets. He likes walking on the roads and buying stuff and just being part of the community.

Me too.

I have to say, as much as I’m not into the litter, the noise, the goofy people drinking beer on the corner and all the rest I do wave and hear my name 10 times a day. Clicks, whistles, hollers. I can walk to ice cream. Cake. Sometimes fruit. There are some food carts that I don’t patronize but that’s on me for not wanting funnel cakes with cucumbers or Doritos piled high with ground hotdogs and yellow cheese. Even in a town this small there’s life everywhere. Packs of dogs, conversation, commotion, very few laws, but LIFE. No sirens, no gunshots, no fights.

In nicer towns there are zocalos, flowers, benches, better snacks, better smells from better tacos de pastor. I think a lot of times it’s me and my dwindling American ways (which are few) that doesn’t like this place but real Mexicans hate it too. It’s no secret, I prefer life in Mexico. Just not this town.

You’ve sacrificed a lot for these dogs. But there’s places that are nicer who need you too. Load everyone up and go. And of course, that’s what everyone says when they haven’t looked at housing out of town. In Mexico for sure, it’s helpful to walk around and look for signs. They’ve embraced the internet kinda. But mostly to sell fat blocker pills and clothing and tamales. But I’ll keep looking. Maybe I’m over thinking it.

We finished 20 dogs on Saturday and there was no one waiting and everything flowed and he was back on the bus at 1:30pm. I ran the reservations this time, the last time it was the “other lady” and she says you just have to make everyone come at the crack of dawn and wait until called. That’s how you do it here in Mexico.

Meh. No it’s not. I respect people’s time and I don’t like chaos and also I have 20 years in hospitality. I know how to schedule people in waves. Confirmed and street dogs first, walk ups next, give them a time from 10-12. Much easier. The vet raised the price and so the numbers went down but a spay is still cheaper than a set of gel fingernails which everyone seems to have. I mention this casually.

Very few thank yous and some locals chat about how this should be the responsibility of the town and that it should be free. I agree. But until that happens I’m all you’ve got and I don’t make a peso on this. But I coordinate it all. You’re welcome.

I’ve long since let go of hoping for appreciation or a free taco from this. I do it for the dogs. Period.

My 4 are sore but everyone is doing well and I was happy to get so much first hand cavity opening experience with the vet. They have branches of fallopian tubes, hence the big litters. The other vet just cut the uterus out and left all the rest. Reproductive tissue remains and creates Pyometra disease and tumors. Like Endometriosis it twists around organs and creates blood and pain. I think everyone feels better already. I’m so glad to have it done. And appreciate the donors who made this possible.

Still, it would be nice to live where there’s a clinic. And food. But anyway,

Onward! Let’s see what de/evolves after the US election. Everyone here is waiting too. Lots of manufacturing jobs hang in the balance.

For more info on the rescue linktr.ee/lolasdogrescue