Getting Started
After we moved to Uruguay, we were eager to continue helping with homeless puppies and dogs, so we spread the word.
We received a call about 9 abandoned puppies infested with fleas and offered to take them. A woman brought them to the house.
We spent the night removing the fleas (Frontline makes a great product for puppies who are even just a few days old) and waited for
our Uruguayan "Otis" to call. It was then that we learned what it means to rescue in Uruguay. There is no Cherokee County Humane Society. There is no adoption drive where people happily pay an adoption donation of $100- $200 USD. There was no vet who would castrate puppies before 6 months (by which time no one will adopt them). We were completely on our own.
We received a call about 9 abandoned puppies infested with fleas and offered to take them. A woman brought them to the house.
We spent the night removing the fleas (Frontline makes a great product for puppies who are even just a few days old) and waited for
our Uruguayan "Otis" to call. It was then that we learned what it means to rescue in Uruguay. There is no Cherokee County Humane Society. There is no adoption drive where people happily pay an adoption donation of $100- $200 USD. There was no vet who would castrate puppies before 6 months (by which time no one will adopt them). We were completely on our own.
Mom has taught me that "No" is just a starting point. I was determined to find a veterinarian who understood that it is critical for a rescue organization to spay or neuter the puppy before it leaves our care. This is the only way we can guarantee that our rescue won't in fact, lead to even more abandoned puppies. I did some research and learned of a vet who teaches in many countries. Surely she would understand the importance of pre-adoption castration. She explained that there is so much parvo and distemper here that it is really dangerous to castrate puppies from rescue organizations. However, with our commitment to much better care, on time vaccinations and making sure no puppies from different place were together, she would do the pediatric castration. Of course as in common in ignorance, we endured comments to the effect that we were inhumane for castrating 9 week old puppies, even as when properly done, pediatric castration is much less invasive with much shorter healing times.