A Canadian’s Story About Volunteering at PEACEAnimals Clare Leach - PEACEAnimals
July 18, 2022

PEACEAnimals is so grateful to all our volunteers. This week we are featuring a volunteer from Canada who wrote in her own words her experience at our clinics.

I arrived in Bucerias on May 21st and quickly befriended a feral cat community on the street I am staying. It has been an absolute pleasure to feed and leave water for the cats regularly the past couple of months. A local friend, who also helped one of the kittens by taking him to the vet for his eye problem, sent me the website for PEACEAnimals suggesting I could volunteer.

I soon realized the property owners where the cats live could benefit from the spay/neuter program. BUT I was extremely intimidated at the thought of being able to catch these cats and bring them to the clinic. I had never done anything like this before. Time went by and the plan began to come together in synchrony. My friend loaned me cages, people offered rides, and the property owners offered me a suite to keep the cats and monitor them after surgery. My aunt, in Canada, who works at a rescue offered me valuable advice throughout the whole process.

Catching cats at 6 am prior to clinics has been quite the adventure! The food in the cage trick works best as most of these cats will not allow human hands near them.

The attention, care and skill I observed at these clinics was amazing. The vet team and volunteers are very friendly and helpful. It has been fascinating to watch the entire process. Everything is set up in the open so volunteers get to observe the surgeries. I was able to help in the recovery of the cats at the clinic. It has been a very rewarding and enriching experience. One I will never forget and I will be sharing these stories for the rest of my life.

If you are an animal lover and have some spare time during your stay in the area, I highly recommend you experience this for yourselves. I will be making a third attempt to catch more cats this week, wish me luck!

All the cats back in their colony are doing amazingly well. After the clinic days each cat lets me know when it is time to be released. So far, it has been anywhere from 18 to 46 hours after surgery. Keeping them in a quiet, dimly lit or dark place has been best for them. I am available to answer any questions if more people are interested to catch and monitor ferals after surgery. I have so much gratitude and respect for PEACEAnimals.

Thank you for all the love, support and time and organization that goes into making this program available and a success.

Upcoming Clinics

July 20-23 • Mezcalito-primaria, Puerto Penasco s/n Esquina Puerto Manzanillo
July 27-30 • Valle Dorado-Delegacion Municipal, Plaza Central
Aug 3-6 • Jarretaderas-delegacion Municipal
Aug 17-20 • Valle Esmeralda-Calle Valle Agata 20 interior 101
Sept 7-10 • Ixtapa-Escuela Tecnologica. Calle Federacion #412, Colonias Universatarias
Sept 21-24 • La Cruz-Tree House Bar & Grill
Nov 16-19 • Bucerias



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