An unexpected aspect of the project involved interactions with many street dogs. Emiliano, a 19-year-old team member who loves animals and aspires to be a veterinarian, noticed that these dogs were eager for food and affection. Emiliano, who was visiting his family’s place of origin for the first time, found that the school’s two resident dogs, Sopo and Veni, were undernourished and had fleas and ticks.
On October 20, 2023, Emiliano and some students rounded up Sopo and Veni and took them to the Ag building. There, Agronomy teacher Erick helped wash the dogs and administer vaccines, vitamins, and treatments for fleas and ticks.
Once Emiliano had finished treating the dogs, he gathered about twenty-five students and invited them to join a new Amadores de Animales Club (Animal Lovers Club). His aunt, who lives nearby and is also an animal lover, will support the club while Emiliano returns to Washington.
Another street dog, a puppy named Ramon, was rescued from outside the school. He has been adopted by the director in Arriaga, Chiapas, who hopes Ramon will grow into a home protector. While Ramon initially hid in the bathroom on his first day, he has made significant progress and is expected to become a brave defender.
Conde was tied up to a tree all day and only released at night to protect the property. Her owner fed her tortillas with water daily and often beat her.
Conde's owner agreed to let us adopt her, and we took her to our rescue animal sanctuary.
Chaparrito is growing strong and is being well taken care of at our animal sanctuary.
He is very fearless and very loving.
Feriha, a puppy found begging outside a gas station in Chiapas, was taken in by Obeidi, a local team member. Obeidi bought food for her and brought her to our Animal Sanctuary. Feriha was given medical care, including deworming and vitamins, and is now growing strong with her ribs no longer showing. Our Animal Lovers Club aims to teach children compassion for animals. Although we can’t save all homeless animals in Chiapas, we seek sponsors to help care for some of them.
Through our Animal Lovers Club, we consistently feed some of the stray dogs in the neighborhood, though we can't reach them all. Even if you're thousands of miles away from Chiapas, you can sponsor a stray dog for $25 a month. This helps us provide food for a four-legged friend in need.
"Raton" is the puppy of a migrant who ended up in Chiapas. We frequently saw them outside the Oxxo gas station in front of the clinic in Arriaga. Even though "Raton" has an owner, the puppy was often hungry, so we provided food for him.