2023/2024 Season on Chuffed

 This Season on Chuffed

This past season aboard Chuffed has been our most productive yet. After returning to the water in November 2023, we've provided free treatment to more than 450 animals across various communities. From spaying and neutering to flea and tick medicine to life-saving treatment, we couldn't have achieved this without your support!

Mulege

During our time in the Mulege region we provided veterinary treatment to over 40 animals . The work started as the volunteer vet at the PAW Mulege clinic. This clinic provides free veterinary care to the animals in and around the town of Mulege. They normally do not have a veterinarian on staff and depend on volunteer vets to come and run surgical clinics.  It was a busy time at the clinic where we provided an array of different veterinary services including spay/neuter surgeries, lump removals, and treated other common illness such as gastrointestinal issues and providing vaccinations.

We also embarked on a reconnaissance sail from Chuffed to the surrounding communities to assess the health of the animals. On this trip we provided free vaccinations and parasite prevention medication to the local animals. We’d like to say a special thank you to the SV Delos crew for supporting this project.

Agua Verde

The Agua Verde project was Vet Tails largest project we have run from Chuffed, treating over 120 animals. This was a three phase plan, requiring three trips to Agua Verde over the course of the sailing season, all building towards a large scale spay and neuter clinic, the first ever in Agua Verde. 

During our first visit, we treated 60 animals for various conditions and provided free flea and tick medication. This initial visit was extremely important as we were able to obtain an accurate number of the animals in the town and asses the general health of the animal population, as well as make valuable connections with the people that live there.

A couple of weeks later, we returned with over 100 vaccines, protecting pets against rabies, parvovirus, and more. With the help of a local restaurateur, Joel, we made sure every animal received care. We also had two fellow cruisers and patrons, assist us with giving the vaccines and record keeping which made the day run extra smoothly. The community's gratitude was palpable as families and their pets lined up for their vaccinations and check-ups.

Knowing we couldn't tackle a large scale spay and neuter campaign alone, we organized a date with team of local veterinarians from Loreto to meet us in Agua Verde and spay and neuter as many animals as we could. With the support of a local family who offered their porch as a makeshift clinic, and help from a group of cruisers who were in the area, we were able to spay and neuter around 40 animals—nearly half of the community's pets! This effort will have a lasting impact on the animal population. We plan to return to Agua Verde in 2025 to repeat these campaigns.

San Jose Channel Fishing Communities

Vet Tails also provided vaccinations, flea and tick control, and free clinic days to the communities of the San Jose Channel. Over two years, we've treated over 70 animals in the region, effectively eradicating contagious diseases in this area by building ‘herd immunity’.

These small fishing communities are either boat access only, or extremely difficult to reach by land, therefore having no access to veterinary care. We began this project in 2023 and it was great to see it grow and expand in 2024. Revisiting the communities of San Evaristo, Isla Cayote, Las Cuevas, Punta Colorada, Nopolo and Los Burros each year builds trust with the community and allows for a greater standard of care to be delivered to the animals of these towns.

We are looking forward to visiting these communities again in 2025. These campaigns have been so successful other towns in the area have reached out to us and so we will be expanding our reach further in 2025.

Soft Paw Cat Sanctuary

Vet Tails provided veterinary care to the Soft Paws Cat Sanctuary in Loreto, vaccinating their 45 rescue cats, many of whom are looking for fur ever homes, and providing check ups and medical advice.

San Cosme and Juncalito

This past season also saw Vet Tails with its first veterinary student, Jeremiah, on board. We sailed with Jeremiah to Juncalito, where we treated 40 animals, spayed two dogs, and provided life-saving treatment to puppies with a tick-borne disease. We then sailed south, teaching Jeremiah about the boat and how we approach veterinary outreach. Our final stop with Jeremiah was the small fishing community of San Cosme, where we vaccinated all four dogs that call this community home.

It was then time to say goodbye to Jeremiah, who was heading off to Africa to help save rhinos! This trip with Jeremiah expanded our network in the region and we plan to revisit these communities in 2025 to provide ongoing support and veterinary care.

Puerto Madero

Puerto Madero is the small town in southern Chiapas where we spent 3 years refitting Chuffed to prepare her for the work we do now. During our time there we started the towns first spay and neuter clinics, started a number of outreach projects in surrounding neighborhoods, free clinic days, vaccination campaigns, and flea and tick medicine. During this time we had Dr. Jenni, a young veterinary student from Puerto Madero accompany us for these projects. Since leaving Puerto Madero, Dr. Jenni graduated from vet school and Vet Tails funds her to provide these same free and low cost services to the community that desperately needs it. This has not only helped Dr. Jenni build trust and connections within her community but also helps keep the veterinary clinic operating in a small under-resourced town.

It is extremely important to us that the work we do continues after we sail on, so being able to provide Dr. Jenni with funding and veterinary expertise to continue this important outreach is something that we are extremely proud of. This year Dr. Jenni and her team have spayed and neutered more than 50 animals and ran multiple vaccination campaigns in the community. She has also been treating stray dogs and cats, and even rescued multiple puppies this year. We’d like to say a special thank you to TravelSketch who supported this project.

The 2023/2024 season has been a testament to the power of community, resilience, and the love people have for their animals. We look forward to continuing this journey with your support and couldn’t do it without you all, so thank you! I hope you all feel very proud knowing the difference you have made throughout these communities and how much gratitude has been sent your way! Our patrons and other supporters make these projects possible and keep the sailing veterinary clinic afloat.

We cannot say thank you enough, none of this would be possible without your support.

This Season on Chuffed

THIS SEASON SO FAR (NOV 23-APRIL 24) IN NUMBERS

90 dogs and cats neutered/spayed

250 dogs and cats vaccinated, heath checked and given parasite prevention

50 animals received advanced medical or surgical care for illness and injuries

9 communities with healthier and happier animals and people

It has been a huge season onboard Chuffed. Since going back in the water in November 2023 we have provided free or low cost treatment to almost 400 animals!!! That is no mean feat for a small organization like ours, and we truly couldn’t have done it with out you all.

Our sailing season began crossing from San Carlos to Bahia Concepcion. In Bahia Concepcion we worked with the PAW Mulege clinic to provide free and low cost spay/neuter surgery and other treatments such as lump removals, vaccinations and medicine for gastrointestinal problems. We also sailed to nearby communities to provide vaccinations and parasite prevention medicine to the local animals.

Our next project was Agua Verde. The first phase of the project was providing parasite control medicine and free health checks to the animals in the community. On our first trip we saw around 60 dogs and cats, a few of which needed treatment for conditions such as dog fight wounds, ear infections and torn nails.

We returned to Agua Verde a few weeks later with 100 vaccinations for dogs and cats, vaccinating them against rabies and common diseases such as parvovirus, distemper and the ‘feline flu’.  We used up all but 3 of our vaccines, starting with a small clinic in one of the beach Palapas before one of the restauranters, Joel, drove us around the entire village to make sure every single animal received the preventative care they needed. It was a long day, but a good one. Being a Sunday everybody was gathered at their family homes, with all the kids, grandparents, pets and friends in one place. We would arrived at a small party, everyone would line up with their dogs and cats, kids were playing in the background, families were celebrating, it was a really special experience to be involved with the community in this way. Everybody was extremely grateful for our visit, the nearest town is a rough 4 hour 4WD away and there is no veterinarian that lives locally. We also took down numbers and names for the upcoming spay and neuter campaign that we will be doing with Loreto veterinarians at the end of this month! We are so excited to head back soon.

In between these trips we also visited the Soft Paws cat sanctuary in Loreto and provided vaccinations to 45 kitties and did some random check ups of puppies and dogs throughout the town and by the marina.

On our way to La Paz we also stopped in at San Evaristo, the community were we spent a lot of time doing projects in early 2023. We vaccinated all of the new dogs and cats in town, and checked over some of the animals that had problems like ear infections. Jacob, a local kid who helped us with our campaign last year, visited with his new puppy – he loves animals just as much as ever! This month we will also be returning to San Evaristo, as well as the 4 communities north of them, with booster vaccinations for the adult dogs we saw last year. We expect to vaccinate around 60 animals over one week – sounds like a lot but hey we did 100 in one day in Agua Verde!

Meanwhile in Puerto Madero Dr Jenni has been keeping very busy! Last month, along with a small veterinarian team she put together, she provided low cost spay and neuter surgery to 40 animals. We are now working on her next project – a vaccination campaign in a rural beach community north of Puerto Madero. During this campaign Dr Jenni will provide rabies vaccines, core vaccines and flea/tick/worming medicine to the dogs and cats of the region, as well as free check ups to all the animals that attend. We estimate to 30 animals during this campaign.

This year has been full of ups and downs for Dr Jenni, her newly opened clinic has been able to provide veterinary care to a number of stray and owned animals in her community. How ever last month, in the middle of the spay campaign, Dr Jenni’s family home caught fire. Thankfully nobody was injured, but the family has been sleeping in the veterinary clinic while repairing the home. The funding we provide for Dr Jenni not only helps countless animals, it also keeps a small female-owned business going. Dr Jenni is not only able to provide for the animals of her community but also for family which makes us so proud of her and the work we have been able to do together, with your help. You can visit our GoFundMe for Puerto Madero by clicking HERE.

So it has been a whirlwind season, with plenty more to come. We truly couldn’t do this amazing work without you all so THANK YOU!

Surfers for Strays MEXICO

In August of 2020 I boarded an airplane, with a mask and a giant bottle of hand sanitizer, to visit Surfers for Strays in Zihuatenejo, Mexico.

My mission was to help this amazing dog rescue and rehabilitation center to reorganize their shelter, budget and procedures to make life easier for the women managing it, which of course means more time and money can go towards improving the lives of the animals in the region.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it alone, and so I reached out to a fellow sailor I had met online, who also happens to be a licensed veterinary technician in Texas…. Michelle and I had been in touch before about spay and neuter campaigns, and I was sitting their wondering who might be crazy enough about animals to drop everything they were doing to fly to Mexico in the middle of a pandemic and she popped into my head. With two weeks notice she rearranged her schedule and flew down! Amazing!

Surfers for Strays was established in 2017 by two amazing women, one of whom, Natalie, manages the center, while also holding down a job as a yoga instructor and masseuse in Troncones. Since opening the center has helped thousands of animals, through rescue and rehabilitation as well as through education and mass sterilization campaigns. The volunteer manager, Sandrine, volunteered with the center last year and then fell so in love she never left. It was so inspiring to see two passionate women running such a huge project, making local lasting change for the animals.

Michelle hard at work… removing over 200 ticks from one dog!!!!

The work begins…

We hit the ground running on arrival, holding meetings and rummaging through every inch of the rescue center, Michelle writing a list pages long of everything we could do to help make things run as smooth as possible. But before we began organizing, we had to meet the puppies! Up to 14 dogs live at the rescue center at any one time, many of whom have severe skin issues or other diseases that require daily treatment. The volunteers, along with Natalie and Sandrine, ensure these pups get the very best of care and so much love. Once the puppies are healthy enough they are flown to the USA to FUR-ever homes.

Grace found her forever home just after i left the center

While the all female crew of volunteers focused on the day to day care of the dogs, Michelle and I began revamping the center. Michelle focused on cleaning, feeding and structural procedures; while I focused on medical and budget procedures. Together we went through every document, every drawer, every cupboard and every folder… and at the end of our four week stay had managed to make small tweaks and improvements to almost every aspect of the shelter.

Natalie and I talk shop on our way to surf some waves!

And the surf was good too…

Proof of my toes on the nose!

The second most amazing thing about Surfers for Strays (Puppy rescue coming first) is its location!!! Troncones is a beautiful beach community, the shelter is located about 50m from the beach. And with in an hours drive there are multiple points, river mouths and beaches with PERFECT waves for every surfer. In between puppy rescue we spent hours by the beach or in the water, perfecting our surfing skills. I finally got my toes over the edge of the board… albeit only with one foot…

We also hosted a spay and neuter campaign, and treated many of the local dogs in the area with our visit. It was the first time the shelter had a veterinarian volunteering and we took full advantage of the situation, giving out medicines, providing free veterinary advice and meeting with local veterinarians to help improve animal health and welfare in the region.

We sterilized 100 animals during our spay and neuter campaign, in a small town called Laguinillas. It was a long two days, but so exciting to be part of such a massive project, doing something that we know will change the lives of the both the animal and human community of that town. Having less dogs on the streets makes life better for the people living there as well.

A group of INCREDIBLE women spaying and castrating 100 dogs and cats!!!!

Follow up…

At the beginning of the month I went back up to Troncones to help with a special case, and got to see how everything was going after a month and a half. The changes Michelle and I had made had been implemented and both Natalie and Sandrine felt such a big sense of relief, with things running much more smoothly. They both had the willingness and passion to get the center running smoothly, but were so incredibly busy looking after the dogs it was hard to find a moment to sit down and review procedures! A big part of our work was putting new procedures in place to help Natalie and Sandrine make important treatment decisions, when veterinary care is over half an hour away, and we helped streamline some of their protocols to make life easier. For example scheduling all once off treatments, like flea control, and veterinary visits for either a Monday or Wednesday, so Natalie and Sandrine can pre-plan to take a day off once in a while (Naughty ladies, were very rarely taking a full day off before that!).

Little changes can have a big impact, and I am so proud of the work we were able to do with Surfers for Strays. SFS is making a HUGE difference, and I really loved working with a team of strong and passionate women, it really made me feel the power of women’s empathy, how it can change the world.

You can volunteer with Surfers for Strays too - it is hard work but absolutely rewarding and fun! They also accept donations to help them keep saving animals, and of course you can even adopt one of their rescues! (and you don’t have to be a woman to volunteer, but you will likely be outnumbered by the beautiful caring women that are there, not a bad prospect!)

Check out their website SURFERS FOR STRAYS

A little cuddle with Fred during some downtime…