it's our hotel! not. this is one of the swankier places on the strip. we're just pretending that we live here.
the shelter! amigos de los animales is small but surprisingly clean and pretty well functioning -- kennels for the dogs, a communal cat area and a tiny treatment/surgery area. they have a full time vet (they're called "medicos" here), a shelter manager and 2 employees who feed/clean cages/take dogs for walks. also volunteers help when they are available. we met 2 women from canada who fundraise and take some animals back to canada to find them homes. of course since it's latin america it's not as hectic as shelters in the states. they take in about 35 dogs a month and adopt out 25, cats 10 - 15 out and 100 in per month. many of the cats are feral or semi-feral so they do a lot of spay & release, and euthanasia of very old or sick cats. the staff are dedicated and nice and seemed glad to see us, but i felt a little redundant -- i was doing stuff the medico could easily have done himself and he just sat back and watched me, so it seemed like they didn't really need help. hmm, a little confusing. either way they're a good group and their goals are admirable, especially in a town where animal welfare is not a big priority.
el perro azul! this dog and her sister were owned by a local artist who painted them blue.
soaking up some rays
cat room
medico juan surveys the meds i brought
checking the incision of the previous day's neuter
treating an anemic pit mix. sweet dog with white gums. when we left she was still tired but doing alright.
giving IV fluids and glucose to laika, a street dog who had been in residence for 2 weeks and was depressed and anorexic. sometimes when street dogs are brought to the shelter they become depressed because even though it's safe and warm and there's food, they aren't used to being indoors and it weirds them out.
