Mexi Mutt Rescue

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, may be a vacation paradise for travellers, however it is anything but paradise for dogs without homes. Stray dogs are a huge problem in Mexico as a whole. But in Puerto Vallarta alone, authorities have estimated there are as many as 45,000 strays. This has not gone unnoticed by two friends who have decided to join forces to help the starving, injured, diseased and homeless dogs of Puerto Vallarta.

Danielle of Vancouver Island, and Chelsea of Puerto Vallarta, have formed Mexi Mutt Rescue, with an objective to rescue dogs from the streets and from a high kill shelter in Puerto Vallarta, and bring them to Canada to find their forever homes. With that many dogs roaming the streets, locals seem somewhat desensitized to the plight of strays and do not adopt from shelters, preferring instead to buy puppies from pet shops - where dogs are shipped from the USA and are most likely from puppy mills.

With a huge number of unspayed and unneutered dogs to contend with, and the locals who do not want them, it’s no surprise that Puerto Vallarta operates a high-kill shelter. As you can imagine, the shelter is no vacation getaway with an unending buffet. The living conditions are small cement cells, filled with dogs. You can always find mother dogs there, with their puppies, every week.

When the strays arrive, they have 72 hours to be recovered by owners or to be adopted. Likely understaffed and underfunded, shelters do allow people in for viewings and adoptions, but for only one day a week. And when that 72 hours is up, there is an even a more heartbreaking end to what has already been a tough life. Euthanasia comes in many forms. If the shelter has the money and the supplies, the dog gets put to sleep. If the shelter does not have the money or the supplies, more primitive means are used - the dog will either be electrocuted, or will be hung and have its throat slit.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?