News

After much hard work trying to save them

By Sharon St. Joan, Best Friends Network

This morning Best Friends learned from Melissa Bahleda, of Partners! Canines, in Virginia, that the 110 San Felipe dogs in the pound had been humanely euthanized by injection.

This was especially sad news since, just the night before, a press release had gone out saying that all the dogs had been rescued and would be going to animal groups to be put up for adoption.

To recap the beginning of the story, in the days before Easter, the city of San Felipe, in Baha, Mexico, had done two roundups of dogs.

ZAPP, a spay/neuter/return organization in San Felipe, had succeeded in rescuing all 52 of the dogs from the first roundup, and finding placement for them with animal welfare organizations in the U.S. They had also reached an agreement with the city not to round up and kill any more dogs--without first giving ZAPP a chance to save them.

However, a second roundup was carried out anyway--and 110 dogs were placed in a pound in Baja and were due to be killed by electrocution--a particularly horrifying way to kill dogs--on Wednesday morning, April 15.

Steven Foreman, of ZAPP, worked heroically and tirelessly, for several days, recruiting many others to help and reaching out to animal groups and individuals in Mexico and throughout the U.S.

On Tuesday evening he had an agreement with the authorities in Mexico to release all the remaining 110 dogs to ZAPP. He also had the promised help of transportation, volunteers, veterinary assistance, and many groups and individuals who had stepped up to take the dogs. It was an amazing accomplishment.

An abrupt change

However, later Tuesday evening, everything changed when it was discovered that some of the dogs had tested positive for Rickettsial disease.

Melissa Bahleda writes that this was not an attempt to prevent the rescue of the dogs. It was a decision resulting from the threat of the disease. When the dogs were euthanized, an attorney from ZAPP was present, as well as Baha officials.

Steven Foreman's second goal, in the event that the dogs could not be rescued, had been at least to see to it that they were euthanized humanely. This much was accomplished, and as sad as the fate of the dogs is, electrocution would have been a much more inhumane way to die.

At the moment, we do not have much information about Rickettsial disease. There is an unconfirmed report that it may have killed six children over the weekend. However, it is not clear, as of now, to what extent the disease is or is not a serious threat--or what other course of action might have been considered.

It is very sad that in the end, after so many heartfelt efforts to save them, the dogs lost their lives.

A movement that continues

What is clear is that, though the news is very sad, all the energy and tremendous effort that went into trying to save the lives of these dogs were not wasted.

The effort to mobilize help for the dogs was in itself successful--an army of people were standing by ready to help--and this shows what is possible for the future. To give credit to the internet too, it enabled a new level of hi-speed networking, leading to action.

The heroic effort that was made has focused renewed attention on the plight of Mexican dogs--many of whom do meet a sad end. Much work needs to be done in the future to support and encourage programs that will help Mexican dogs--like the spay/neuter/return program that ZAPP has been carrying out for the past six years, as well as the very noble work of many Mexican animal groups who struggle with huge challenges every day. Hopefully, this sad event will spur future work to help the animals of Mexico.

What you can do

To learn more about ZAPP Spay/Neuter Project in San Felipe, please go to
http://www.sfzapp.com

Partners! Canines was one of a great many groups that were helping ZAPP in the attempted rescue of the San Felipe dogs
http://www.partnerscanines.org

To stay informed about efforts to help the dogs in Baha, Mexico, and throughout Latin America, you are invited to join this community, "Latin America and the Caribbean." Volunteers who speak Spanish or who have an interest in Latin America are much needed.

Photo: © Concettina D'agnese / Dreamstime. Com