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The dog squad is ready to help

Crowdfunding to assist low-income families in Mexico with vaccinating their dogs and puppies
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While there is a lot of work being done in Mexico to vaccinate dogs and cats against rabies, distemper and parvo virus are still killing many otherwise healthy animals.

Maurie Deaton of Vernon volunteers her time in Mexico to help dogs and cats and has recently launched a vaccination campaign for the dogs that she and others have been rescuing in Melaque and Barra de Navidad just north of Manzanillo.

“We are also helping to pay for vaccinating pets of poor families who can’t otherwise afford it,” she said. “It has been very hard to watch distemper go through the community, killing dogs including a few that I fostered temporarily.”

Deaton’s “Dog Squad (and Cats Too)” has been busy spaying and neutering and medicating sick and injured dogs, as well as adopting dogs to families in Mexico and quite a few to Canada and the U.S.

Deaton said there are no free vaccine clinics for distemper and parvo, both of which are highly contagious. Each vaccination is about $15 and so far, 10 dogs/puppies have been vaccinated, but pups need several rounds to build up their immune system.

“We hope to raise enough money to vaccinate a total of 150,” she said. “There are a lot of pups waiting for our help.

“While vaccines cannot give 100 per cent guaranteed protection, they will give these dogs a much better chance at living a longer and more healthy life. The more dogs vaccinated, the less these diseases will spread.”

Donations to the vaccination campaign can be made online at crowdfunding site Chuffed at chuffed.org/project/dog-squad-vaccine-campaign or by e-transfer to maurie@shaw.ca. Deaton notes that the site has a place where donations can be made to Chuffed at the same time, but that this is an optional donation.