Dedicated Dog Catchers at FluviDOGS Project in Puerto Vallarta Gretchen DeWitt - PEACEAnimals
go to original July 28, 2014

I woke up in the dark at 6:00 am on Wednesday, July 23rd, feeling tingly. It was the morning of the planned capture of a pack of seven and sometimes eight intelligent, goodlooking, medium-large feral dogs living in the overgrown grassy and bushy fields of colonia Fluvial. I was going with Paulina Stettner as an observer.

Approximately two dozen trained volunteers were to meet up at 7:30 am with FluviDOGS organizer, Connie Córdova, who has been feeding the dogs for months on the grass divider under the large trees. Connie and Marianna Bardejo, an excellent dog trainer, recently founded FluviDOGS, a group of individuals committed to stop the breeding of wild dogs. By 7:30, it was light, and the work began of putting out food that had been laced with eight ground-up sleeping pills per dog.

Traffic was well managed by five people on the very busy avenue of Jose Rodriguez Barba, which connects Francisco Villa with Avenida México, the main streets in and out of Puerto Vallarta. Feral dogs have been injured and killed on this speedy street, and they were at more risk after consuming sleeping pills. Volunteers held large, brightly colored signs advising in Spanish to slow down for dogs on the loose. For the few cars that sped by, the suggestion was made to hold up signs saying "men drinking beer ahead" or "watch out for naked women."

Only five dogs would eat the food, and out of those that did, after about a thirty minute light sleep, three of them disappeared into high bushes before they could be tranquilized. Volunteers stayed until 10:00 am to make sure dogs were fine when they came out of hiding.  

Captured: "Momy," whom volunteers had seen being mounted by different dogs in the past several days, and "Cachita," a young dog that no one had suspected of being pregnant. I drove with Paulina, director of PEACEAnimals clinics, to our location in the nearby colonia los Portales with Cachita in a kennel in the back of the truck. She was operated on and discovered to be newly pregnant with nine fetuses. Momy was brought to the clinic an hour later and found to be in advanced stages of TVT (transmissible venereal tumor). As a wild dog, it will be impossible for Momy to go through chemotherapy sessions to shrink and destroy the malignant tumors. "Destiny," a female dog that had belonged to Momy´s pack, probably died of TVT. The destiny of many unsterilized dogs running free in the streets is to be infected and die of this disease. TVT, so common in Mexico, doesn´t exist in the U.S. or Canada. It was a stressful capture for Momy, so the members of FluviDOGS present at the clinic decided to let her have a few days of rest and good food at the SPCA-PV sanctuary with Cachita. The surprise for Connie at feeding time on Sunday morning was to find Momy and Cachita waiting for her under the trees in Fluvial. The dogs had managed to tear their way through a cyclone fence at the SPCA-PV and travel a few miles to the only home they´ve ever known.  

Brian Kines, who has been so involved with the FluviDOGS project, reports that Momy, the oldest dog in this pack, has had many litters of puppies and is probably newly pregnant. Her cancer has spread to her internal organs and she will be euthanized via a strong tranquilizer in her food this week.

Although attempts were made to capture more dogs on Thursday and Friday, the efforts were unsuccessful. FluviDOGS is committed to the capture, sterilization and release of the two packs of feral dogs. If you would like to help in any way, visit FluviDOGS on Facebook.

Thank you to the many dedicated individuals and organizations that are helping to end the suffering of animals.

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