The villages around Cusco have a terrible problem with out-of-control dog populations. Pet dogs roam free and are not sterilized, so numbers increase every month. The problem can get so bad that communities feel they have to take drastic action. One of our communities, Picol, was on the verge of culling all their dogs when we arrived. But, with the promise of free sterilizations, we were able to convince them not to. Help us provide a humane population control solution and reduce dog deaths.
Owned dogs (and a small group of feral dogs) roam free in the village of Picol. Due to lack of access to and cost of surgeries, none of these dogs are neutered. The increasing dog population creates problems for the community, including spread of disease, damage to crops, dog attacks, etc. The problem got so bad that the community was considering taking drastic action - culling all their dogs - before we arrived. Neutering is a humane way to control the dog population.
This project aims to neuter the dogs in Picol, Cusco. By neutering as many dogs as possible in a village, we can quickly and humanely stop numbers of dogs from increasing any further. Vastly reducing the number of un-neutered dogs in a population will mean fewer unwanted litters and therefore less abandonment and killing of puppies. (If we can't access all the dogs in Picol, we will use funds to neuter dogs in nearby villages.)
By neutering as many dogs in the village as possible, the dog population will no longer continue to grow at the same rate. This means that fewer litters of puppies will be born now, so there will be fewer dogs on the streets in the future. A smaller and better controlled dog population will cause fewer problems for the community and will ultimately lead to a great reduction in dog deaths through culling, poisoning and puppy-killing practices.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
