Asilo de Animales

So....before I came to Cuernavaca I was wondering what I could do, other than going to school, to fill my time and connect with the Mexican culture.  I thought about volunteering at a local school but before this year started I had promised that I would TRULY take a year off from kids, not that they are bad or anything, but because I think a break would be healthy!  

What else could I do?  Taking a break from kids would mean finding a place to volunteer that had little or no noise, no neediness, no craziness, no bathroom troubles, no problems with following directions and no whining or crying.  

I found the perfect place through a fellow student at my Spanish school......Animal Protection Association of Cuernavaca (APAC), the asilo de animales (animal shelter)!  It is a no-kill shelter about 10 minutes from my school with about 125 dogs and 75 cats of all shapes and sizes.  The asilo has been in operation for about 40+ years and is run by women.  The building is on about 2 acres of land in the hills of Cuernavaca and has a low-cost medical clinic that offers out-patient services such as neutering, inoculations and consultations.  The doctors that volunteer at the shelter also provide services to all the animals in the shelter at no cost.

The first day that I went to the shelter, I spent most of my 6 hours in the two cat cages.  One cage was for the kittens/small cats and the other for the adult cats.  I spent time between both cages petting, holding and brushing the cats.  When Reed arrived at about 11am, we helped clean out the litter boxes and wash one of the cages.  The woman "in charge" of the cats, Rolanda, has been at the shelter for 12 years and has given a name to all 75 cats!  As time went on that day, I was able to notice the different personalities of all the cats.  Some were friendly (one a little too much--I had pokes and scratches on my legs and belly from it's 'friendly' climbing and jumping), some were scared, and some just didn't care.  All were cute, furry and satisfied my craving for being around and petting furry creatures.

Later, we spent a little time with the dogs.  They were the same as the cats as far as personalities; some friendly (one a little too much), some scared (these barked and kept their distance), and some indifferent.  The big dogs are able to run in a big grassy area for most of the day and return to their cages at night for rest.  It was incredible to see the workers put the dogs in their cages.  The dogs crowd around the door and when the worker opens the door, two or three dogs go in.  At the next cage, the same thing happens.  The dogs all know into which cage they should go!  I was amazed!  After all the dogs are in their cages, the workers feed them.  Reed asked one of the women if we could help.  The woman gave us each a bowl of food to feed "the boarders" (they take care of dogs for various reasons if the owner asks).  Reed was put in charge of feeding the small, hairless dog and I was in charge of feeding the mastiff.  When I opened the cage holding the pan of food, I was met with a loud, low bark, a huge head on a jumping body and a large swiping paw that knocked 1/2 of the food out of the pan.  I set the bowl down quickly and closed the door.  By the time the mastiff had finished eating the food in his bowl, we had to push about 2 cups of food back under the fence that he had knocked out while 'scarfing' his food.  What an experience!

At the end of the six hours, I was as tired as I am from a day of teaching P.E!  It's no wonder: the noise, at times, was deafening; the neediness, craziness and bathroom troubles were off the charts; following directions was unheard of (literally); the whining and crying were constant--just like a day in the gym!  Oh well, the cuddling, licking and petting made it all worth it!  I'll be volunteering at least one day a week.

I returned home hoping to find peace and quiet, only to be serenaded by barking dogs for most of the evening...sigh!  :o)

For pictures, click on this link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/regnor11/APACAsiloDeAnimales#

Coming next:  Two Thanksgivings in México!

ps.  For those of you that have been trying to leave comments and couldn't, I think I fixed it!