We know, we know… we are all over talking about COVID and while we would love to talk about something else it’s challenging to avoid the subject altogether when the very presence of COVID caused us to make radical adaptations to conform to the new normal.

When we first started volunteering at Hope Sanctuary in 2019, dog adoptions were infrequent and difficult to find. Only a handful of pups were adopted in Mazatlán and others found “furever” homes by making the migratory trip usually to Canada where many of the volunteers had connections. But then COVID (yup, there’s that word again) happened and flights to Canada were all cancelled and the adoptions came to a screeching halt.

The few lucky ones that found homes in town were far and few between and the consequences of COVID forced many unlucky animals to be left with no care since many people who live day to day could no longer afford to care for their pets. These dire circumstances continued to grow with the sheer number of intakes when Hope Sanctuary had reached its peak of 250+ dogs by summer of 2020. Drastic measures needed to be taken and so together with other volunteers we began our exploration of getting as many of our dogs north of the border to the United States where there was a vacuum of animals available for the countless families looking to add a new member of the family.

Wanting to seize on an opportunity to find “furever” homes for our pooches, we started building relationships with many partner rescue groups that had more demand than they had supply. Thus began our, mine and Socrates’, very first trip to San Diego where we flew with 7 pups and waited stateside for another volunteer to arrive with the additional 7, bringing the total amount of pups to 14. While we didn’t expect it to be all sunshine and roses, we also didn’t expect to deal with things that we thought were locked and loaded. One such example was we had set up an overnight stay with all 14 pups at a contact’s house who reneged on her deal and left us homeless without a place to stay the day before we were scheduled to fly to San Diego from Mazatlan. Scrambling for a place to stay with 24 hours notice was such a horrible experience but we pulled it off and managed to find shelter for that one night with the pups. After fortunately securing a temporary home we pulled off a successful transport of 14 lucky pups who had homes lined up for them stateside.

This led to subsequent travels both by airplane and car where we were able to find partner rescue groups in California, Arizona, Nevada, New York and Texas to help secure and line up homes for many of our dogs. By the end of 2022, we had successfully brought over around 115 dogs north of the border. These 115 pups may not have had the same opportunities here in Mazatlán and while we were so heartbroken to say goodbye to many of our favorites, we knew it was the right thing to do and they could all live in a home where they could be loved and cared for.

2021 saw the new zest for life and accomplishments to continue the transport saga of sending our pups north of the border to meet their new families. While it seemed like the sheer volume of pups leaving the sanctuary meant less animals to care for, we continued to get inundated with dogs needing rescue and care. Requests to bring the pups to the sanctuary continued to swell as many dogs were still living in the most dire of conditions throughout the city. Transports continued all throughout 2021 and intakes continued in parallel. Clearly, there are too many pups in Mazatlán that need sanctuary from the streets or whatever critical condition they are living in, and it feels like we can never do enough for them.

That is why we always need help from everyone and anyone willing to adopt, donate, adopt, foster, adopt or even volunteer (and adopt!) with Mazatlan Animal Rescue. This way we can continue to succeed with finding our pups “furever” homes or, at the very least, providing them with the best possible care while they wait for that special person or family who will love and care for them forever.

If you are able to support Mazatlan Animal Rescue (MAR) and Hope Sanctuary please drop us a line or send donations directly to MAR. If you’d like to adopt one of our amazing pups, check out the available adoptions page to see the animals that have been cleared for adoption.

“No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich.” - Louis Sabin