MexPup was born from "what now?", "what can I do?" and "I need help!".

People saw hurt, frightened and homeless dogs that needed help in Puerto Vallarta and made the decision to stop, protect those animals and make a difference.

It all started with Riley the Poodle. Skinny, scared, covered in fleas, filthy and trembling, he saw two healthy dogs being walked by their owner and hesitantly began to follow them hoping with all his heart that the nice lady could help him. She did. It was just an effort to help a dog in need and it was her first rescue. The next dog was Domino and a pattern was started. There were dogs, they needed help and people had the chance to do something for them.   

Then came a very special little puppy named Miau.  Miau was rescued by the PuRR Project where she spent the first two weeks of her rescue life as the only dog (puppy) surrounded by more than 200 cats!  The people at PuRR Project are dedicated to helping cats, but animal lovers are animal lovers and when they saw a puppy right in front of their door who needed to be saved, they couldn't say no.  That little puppy was what ultimately brought all of us behind MexPup together.

Enter some wonderful people from Victoria, British Columbia.  They have huge hearts with the willingness to foster and place dogs with forever homes...A home where these previously discarded animals would be loved, cared for and treated well. The MexPup Canada team meets our Guardian Angels at the airport, no matter the hour, and after the introductions, hugs and tail wagging are all done, they take the puppies to their last way-station on the road to their permanent home.

Then, after being homeless, rescued, nursed back to health, fixed, socialized, fostered, chaperoned, fostered again and introduced... MexPup's work is done. A once homeless dog from the streets of Mexico, has a brand new family, new home and a new start.  This is what everything that all of the people who volunteered were working towards.  Now it's time to do it all over again with another homeless MexPup and another wonderful new family.

MexPup is now looking to place our homeless animals in the US as well as in Canada, wish us luck!

Mission statement:

Everyone who works for, volunteers with or supports MexPup shares a bond created by a shared empathy for the homeless dogs of Mexico.  That communal connection to animals is what drives our mission to serve the best interests of the homeless animal community in Puerto Vallarta. We make a difference. With your help we can do even more.

MexPup is a nonprofit dog rescue operation whose primary goal is to serve the homeless dog population via rescue and adoption. Our operation is a no-kill dog rescue organization based in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.   

Our volunteer group comprises citizens of Mexico, the United States and Canada, who all collaborate in a process that takes a homeless dog from the streets of Mexico, to a foster home in Puerto Vallarta for recovery and spay/neuter, to a Guardian Angel volunteer who transports the MexPup from Puerto Vallarta’s airport to an airport in Canada or the US, to a MexPup foster home, and finally to the (no-longer-homeless) MexPup's new forever family.

Although our organization rescues all kinds of dogs, we specifically focus on small and medium size dogs as there is a greater need for these types of dogs in our base in Victoria, BC.

Our website is used to coordinate with volunteers, feature MexPups available for adoption, promote the spaying and neutering of dogs in Puerto Vallarta and provide a safe and convenient method for donations.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at Karen@mexpup.com (adoptions & foster homes in Canada) and Patty@mexpup.com (guardian angels & foster homes in Mexico).

Our Mission is not to adopt out lots of dogs, rather it is (from our Mission Statement) "to serve the best interests of the homeless animal community in Puerto Vallarta."

With respect to the adoption process, that means making sure that the process for adopting a MexPup ensures that the dog's environment, conditions and most importantly the people, are well matched.

The first step is the MexPup application, describing you, your home, which dog you want and why, your plans for the dog's care, etc.  This is to make sure the MexPup's new environment is safe, positive and complementary to the needs of the dog.  Click this link to access the adoption application. Please contact MexPup at karen@mexpup.com if you have any question about the adoption process or application.

The next step is to complete the application and send it to karen@mexpup.com.

Once that form has been filled out and returned to us, we will contact you to schedule a home visit - a little time to get to know each other.  It's a great opportunity for us to learn about you and what you're looking for in a dog, and it gives us a chance to share with you what we've learned over the years that can help you welcome a new (formerly homeless) puppy into your home.

Foster Homes - Puerto Vallarta:

Our community of rescuers almost always have houses full of animals, at the moment there are 5 fosters in one of our houses where four adult dogs already live! We need your help!

The great thing about fostering an animal is that there's almost always something that you can do to help.  Fostering can last overnight, a weekend, a week or a couple months. Sometimes, a puppy can go through three or more foster homes between being rescued, nursed back to health, fixed and finding their forever home.  If you can offer shelter to one of these always grateful pups for a night, weekend or any amount of time, please contact MexPup to volunteer, we want you to join our community and we need your help.

If you can't foster a MexPup yourself, maybe you could help someone who is by walking, playing or just sitting with one of MexPup's rescues.
 
Guardian Angels:

Guardian Angels serve this community via "The Five Hour Flying Foster Fix".  A volunteer Air Force of North American travelers and animal lovers chaperone MexPup dogs from Puerto Vallarta to an airport near their new homes.  It's a great win-win experience where the Guardian Angel gets the chance to rescue a dog, the dog gets safely from Mexico to a new home and they both get to meet some fantastic people along the way!

What does it take to be a Guardian Angel?  Surprisingly little. Have you got a plane ticket? Do you like dogs? Great!  Welcome to the MexPup Volunteer Air Force.  We're working on getting you your wings!

Foster Homes - Canada and/or the United States:

MexPup can't begin looking for a Guardian Angel to escort a MexPup out of Mexico until we know there's a Foster Home waiting on the other side.

Fostering a MexPup after he or she has arrived in their new country is so important. One day this little rescue was homeless in Mexico, and then WHOOOSH! Everything has changed! The sky looks different, the air smells different, there aren't any taco stands anywhere. What happened to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our foster families take the little MexPups into their homes and shower them with love, care and attention.  They make sure that when their little foster puppy meets their forever family that the puppy is happy, well adjusted and ready to shine!

Please contact MexPup to learn how you can help us save homeless dogs, they need you and so do we!

Become a Forever Home:

The most important part of the MexPup process is, of course, matching the puppy with the Forever Home. Once MexPup takes in a dog off the streets, a commitment is made to shelter the puppy until it's healthy and fixed and then find that puppy someone who will just as diligently commit to the MexPup's health, happiness and well being.

When you adopt a MexPup, you're not only saving a homeless animal and thereby being a wonderful person. You're also bringing a new personality into your home. When you treat your rescue with love, appreciation and kindness, you will get all that and so much more in return. Most dogs are pretty lovable in general, but there's no dog in the world more lovable than your rescue dog.

Coming to PV?  You Can Help!

If you need another reason to hop on a plane and fly to beautiful Puerto Vallarta Mexico, have we got just the perfect excuse! No really, better than; "my tan lines are completely gone", "I'm having street taco withdrawal" or even "I lost my sunglasses in the ocean, need to go find them."  Try this..."I have to help MexPup bring dog kennels back to Puerto Vallarta, so they can rescue more homeless puppies."

MexPup's dog kennels need to get back to Puerto Vallarta and you can help!  We'll make it so easy on you that the only way you'll know you're helping is the expressions of gratitude on the faces of the great MexPup people you'll meet!

Know someone that works in the airline industry?  We would love to get discounts on full kennels leaving Vallarta or empty ones coming back. Let us know if you can help.

Donate to Support Dogs in Need:

MexPup is an all volunteer organization. There are no salaries or paychecks, just reimbursements for money that our volunteers pay out of their own pockets and donations that hopefully come close to covering the costs to care for the animals. Our ability to help animals is limited by the amount of time each volunteer is able to commit and how much we can collectively provide in food, medical care and other rescue expenses.

Sadly, some of our dogs are in bad shape when we find them.  We do everything we can to get them healthy & thus, sometimes the donations do not cover the expenses we incur. Sometimes we need additional money for surgeries and other medical care and in the past when that has happened, we've all dug a little deeper.

If you want to help but don't have time to foster or escort a MexPup, a donation of any size can help our efforts. Please note that we are not a government registered non-profit organization and thus, cannot provide receipts for tax deductions.

Costs:

The costs of spay/neuter (all MexPup's are sterilized as soon as they're healthy), transporting, vaccinating, testing, etc. are all covered by MexPup. When expenses such as surgeries and other medical expenses drive up the cost, we turn to our supporters to help MexPup cover those fees. We would appreciate and suggest a $300 donation.

Following is a breakdown of the costs associated with rescuing a dog off the streets of Mexico and how your donation helps.

• $5 buys a dog 2 dewormer pills
• $10 feeds a dog for a week
• $15 pays for a dog to be bathed and treated for fleas and ticks
• $20 pays for a dog to be vaccinated
• $25 pays for the dog's health certificate which they need in order to cross borders
• $50 pays for a dog to be spayed/neutered
• $70 pays for a dog to be tested for blood parasites and heartworm
• $100 pays for a dog's flight to Canada

Donations help us help the pups and are always appreciated.

If you are able to assist us with a donation, we would be extremely grateful.