Spay & Neuter street dogs of Huanchaco, Peru

Greetings, all! We hope this report finds you well, and in a festive mood for the holidays. We are excited to share our latest news as the core U.S. team just had a very productive meeting, and our partners on the ground have recently shared updates about their continual efforts to improve the lives of Huanchaco street dogs.

To begin, we met earlier this week, with two of our veterinarians, our head vet tech, and our recovery room lead to discuss the best way to approach our on the ground activities in 2023. While we were unable to return to Peru in 2021 because of Covid, almost every team member indicated their willingness and ability to return to Huanchaco in 2023. Hooray! One of the most important points of conversation was how to best assess the current context there and to understand how we might be of most use to community members at this time. Our next steps are to arrange meetings with our on the ground partners at Amigo Fiel and Huanchaco al Rescate to get an overview of the situation. Specifically, we hope to learn more about any developments in municipal laws regarding street dogs, a better sense of veterinarians currently practicing in the area and what medication/veterinary equipment is most needed. Following these conversations, we feel we will be in a good position to plan the details of our return.

Next, we would like to report on the activities of our on the ground partners. Amigo Fiel reported on their recent activities made possible through our support. These include working with local vets to vaccinate puppies, the management of therapy for several dogs with TVT (transmissible venereal tumors) and the coordinating of dozens of spay and neuter surgeries. They also included a video of a sick dog named Yayita who they rescued from a dangerous avenue and then treated and spayed before putting her up for adoption. They were excited to share that Yayita is now with her new family!

Our other partner, Huanchaco al Rescate, has really been focused on improving their shelter conditions and making sure that funds are used to buy dog food to supplement their more starch-based diet. We have attached a photo of the outside area which now has a sturdy roof over a portion of it and an eager dog checking out the new shipment of dog kibble : ).

So that’s it for now. We wish each and every one of you a wonderful December and look forward to sharing more about our 2023 plans in our next report.

Warm regards,

Courtney & Matt