May 2017

Playa Del Carmen

New partnership to support animal welfare, GVI - SOS

Objectives

To raise awareness on animal welfare in both Volunteers and community.

Create partnerships to achieve SDGs goals and support local organizations growth.
To increase the impact volunteers make in the field.

Summary
GVI is committed to supporting local organizations to achieve their goals, the new partner in
Playa del Carmen SOS el arca, is an animal welfare charity that operates as a shelter for
dogs and occasionally other small animals (mostly domestic animals), GVI staff and volunteers
have started this venture to help the shelter keep animals in better shape and state.

Figure 1 GVI Volunteer visiting SOS el arca

Report
A community liaison of Playa del Carmens projects spotted members of the organization SOS
walking dogs on the famous 5th Avenue and had a chat about what they were doing to under-
stand their objectives. Part of the goals is to promote adoption, they walk dogs along 5th Av-
enue to attract public interest and share with them the history of the dogs and the organiza-
tion in the hope that the dogs get adopted into loving homes, or to collect donations to con-
tinue sheltering these dogs.

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After this conversation field Staff visited the shelter and they were very impressed with the
dedication of SOS to animal welfare, particularly in the Playa Del Carmen area and their vision
for the future. Field staff recognized the need of SOS for support and assistance in maintaining
the care of animals and started coming with short term plan to contribute to achieve their
long term goals. GVI volunteers were informed of the possibility of working with a new animal
project and were shown pictures and details about the work SOS carries out. Many of the
volunteers are animal lovers so they immediately were enthusiastic and keen to start helping.
After a few weeks waiting with baited breath and excitement, field staff and an intern ven-
tured out on their first day at SOS. Although they knew what activities they may be involved
in, some of them could not imagine the scale of the operation that SOS runs to help get ani-
mals off the street and out of the city pound.

Figure 2 Staff and Volunteers walking dogs

From the first day staff and volunteers were greeted by the owner and staff members, while
taking a tour and understanding the activities SOS has they were told that the capacity of the
shelter is 200 dogs but they are currently housing 231 dogs, 8 cats and 1 flightless pigeon,
showing the need of extra hands in the shelter.
The day began with a tour of the shelter and further explanations of the charitys work and
vision towards maintaining the welfare of animals. The dogs are put in to packs of about 8 or
9 dogs depending on their needs and temperament, some dogs for example have skin condi-
tions which could be contagious and in order to prevent the spread of these conditions are
kept in separate packs or are quarantined. Other dogs that possibly have had distressing up-
bringings or violent/abusive homes can often need to be separated so that they live in an
environment best suited to their needs.
Providing the dogs opportunity to have physical activity leads to have a happier and healthier
life, for this reason volunteers and staff excitedly greeted the dogs as they were let out into
the play area waiting to be leashed and ready to be taken for their walk on their first day. The
first dog given was rather enthusiastic but so friendly making participants immediately fall in
love. It took a little while for participants to get used to the strength of the dogs and the heat
which was a slight obstacle but one that volunteers easily got over because what was done

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was not only a massive help to the SOS staff but also extremely important for the dogs. After
7 rounds with 3 to 4 dogs the participants finally finished and had a well-deserved break.
To maintain the dogs hygiene. Volunteers socialized with one pack at a time in the play area
and also helped with the bath. GVI staff and volunteers have already experience playing with
and bathing dogs at Coco`s Animal Welfare, the dogs however were already comfortable with
their new friends. It may take some time for the dogs to become comfortable with new people
at the shelter.
Playing with the dogs was a bit of a challenge because many of them did not appear to un-
derstand the concept of playing with ropes and Frisbees and others were more interested in
the people passing the playing area. This is something that can be improved as volunteers
continue participating with the socialization of the dogs and the use of these toys.
It was quite an overwhelming experience to see so many dogs, who were at one point on the
streets, victims of abuse or in the city pound, now living in conditions where they are given
the love and care they deserve is so special. The feedback received from volunteers has only
been positive. A volunteer in particular was nervous about starting a new project with so
many unfamiliar dogs but ultimately it has become one of her favorite projects. The volun-
teers have all enjoyed the hands on aspect of the project and feel they can become a real
asset to the charity and it will be a stand out project for new volunteers. It is a fabulous project
and GVI staff are glad to do their part in continuing the great work doing towards supporting
animal welfare.

Figure 3 Smile of the dogs and satisfaction of our GVI Staff

If you would like to know more about the community projects in Playa del Carmen, please visit:
http://www.gvi.co.uk/location/yucatan/

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