by Arlene Prunkl
(A version of this article was published in the Summer 2024 edition of the magazine ¡Viva Puerto!)
If you’ve spent more than a few days in Puerto Escondido, you know dogs are everywhere—many trapped behind fences, others roaming the beaches or wandering the streets.
Sadly, many of them are strays, looking only for safety and to appease their constant hunger. If you look a little deeper, you’ll find countless abandoned, homeless, chained-up, ill, injured, starving, and abused dogs. With no enforceable laws governing the humane treatment of animals, this problem is left up to ordinary people—both locals and tourists alike—who volunteer out of deep compassion and love for animals.
While the state of Oaxaca has no specific animal protection laws, the criminal code does recognize animals as sentient beings and claims to provide protection, mostly for companion animals. According to lawyer Mariela López, Oaxaca’s criminal code states that people can be charged and penalized for animal cruelty. “Anyone can file a denuncia—a report denouncing a person for animal cruelty,” she says. Denuncias are used to get owners to either surrender their animals or comply with requirements to improve the animals’ living conditions. “The main problem,” Mariela concludes, “is lack of enforcement. No agency exists to investigate allegations of animal cruelty. A second problem is the apathy of the public. People are quick to publish a photo of a suffering animal and write ‘Somebody help!’ but they don’t want to become involved themselves.”
In contrast to the indifference of government and, often, the public, the dog shelter Huellitas de Acero A.C. Puerto Escondido is working tirelessly to make a difference to the needy dogs of Puerto. As well, free monthly sterilization campaigns in Puerto and the surrounding towns are addressing the crux of the overpopulation problem: rampant overbreeding. Let’s take a closer look at these efforts.
Huellitas de Acero A.C. Puerto Escondido started in 2014 when Maria de Lourdes Pérez Escobedo began taking in street-born, abandoned, and abused dogs. Since then, the shelter has expanded to over 120 dogs and moved to a larger property 15 minutes north of town in Colonia la Lucerna. It’s managed on the ground by the passionate Cheryl Sortwell, who ensures the dogs get daily nutrition and care, any medical attention they need, plus vaccinations, sterilizations, and socialization. In addition, the shelter has a small team of rotating volunteers on the ground, including Pablo and Emiliano, who help with feeding, bathing, socializing, and exercising the dogs, property cleanup, laundry, repair and maintenance of the shelter, and more; as well as others who volunteer tirelessly at social media, fundraising, transportation, and finding foster homes and adopters. Since February of 2023, Huellitas has successfully placed over 140 dogs in forever homes in Puerto, Canada, and the US, often finding volunteer flight escorts with the help of the Furry Fliers program. One of Huellitas’ next goals is to facilitate school education programs in the humane care of domestic animals.
Snipsisters runs monthly dog and cat sterilization campaigns in Puerto Escondido and other communities in the region. This nonprofit was founded in late 2010 by Heidi Wagner to provide free sterilizations in Huatulco and area. In 2019, on the initiative of Susan Allison, campaigns began in Puerto Escondido, and by November 2020 the model had expanded to accommodate Covid-19 protocols, and monthly campaigns began. To date, Snipsisters Puerto Escondido has completed 7,187 surgeries, one-third of them for street animals. Surgeries are free; those who are able can make a voluntary donation. Since many cannot donate, fundraising is vitally important. Every peso or dollar raised goes to covering the costs of the vet and the high-quality medications and materials. Everyone involved with the campaigns is a volunteer.
If you’d like to get involved with the monthly campaigns, message Karen Gerbasi on WhatsApp at 1-403-493-4120. No experience is required.
Except for the efforts of nonprofit organizations like Huellitas de Acero and Snipsisters, dog (and cat) mistreatment and overpopulation in Puerto Escondido continue to go largely unchecked.
According to Mexico’s Institute of National Statistics and Geography, Mexico ranks third in the world in animal abuse, and first in Latin America*. This needs to change. If you’d like to be a part of the solution, consider volunteering at the Huellitas shelter or at the sterilization campaigns. And help spread the word! Education and awareness are key to changing the desperate situation for so many dogs in Puerto Escondido and elsewhere in Mexico.
*ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America, https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/the-relationship-between-animal-cruelty-and-domestic-violence/.
Imagine a dog, alone and scared, abandoned on the streets of Mexico. Their future uncertain, filled with hunger, fear and sickness.