Letter from Mexico: A Dog’s New Life

Pepito in his native garb, trying out his new wheels.

The Bay of Banderas is a beautiful area on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. But sadly, it’s home to too many dogs who are abandoned, abused, starving, or in need of medical care. 

Since 2019, a new shelter has been making an impact with the street dogs of Banderas Bay. A Dogs New Life A.C. (ADNL) rescues, rehabilitates, and adopts out abandoned animals in addition to assisting community members with the health and welfare of their pets. Many of ADNL rescues are medium to large dogs, which are harder to place in foster care, leaving the shelter as the only option until an adoptive family can be found. 

ADNL is committed to helping dogs and their humans through its rescue, community, and street programs. Here’s a quick glance at what we do.

Rescue and Rehome

ADNL rescues injured, abused, and abandoned dogs.  Those not placed with our foster volunteers are housed at the shelter until they can be adopted into loving families. We currently have 108 dogs and puppies in our care. Among them are three litters of puppies that were abandoned outside the shelter; most are now in foster homes, but a couple are still with us in the shelter.  We also have Canelo, a Weimaraner mix who was hit three times by a car, leaving his back end paralyzed.  We are treating him with water therapy and electrotherapy and have found a wheelchair for him, but we anticipate that he will be a long-term resident of the shelter.  

Community Outreach

We often see situations where a family loves their dog and the dog clearly returns that love, but the family cannot afford their pet’s food and veterinary care.  In these situations, ADNL is able to provide food and/or veterinary services, while monitoring the dog and educating the family about responsible dog care. In addition to offering spay and neuter services, our community outreach program is currently providing chemotherapy to dogs whose owners do not have the ability to pay for this treatment for their beloved companions. All of this is made possible through continued donations to our shelter and programs, for which we are extremely grateful.   

Tizate, before and after finding A Dog’s New Life

Street Dog Initiative

ADNL identifies and monitors street dogs so that we can vaccinate and deworm them and apply flea and tick medication, all of which protect the dog as well as the health of the community. Additionally, we encourage small businesses to place dog food and water outside of their businesses to help keep long-term street dogs as healthy as possible.  We realize we cannot take in every dog from the street, but we can provide many with needed care. One street dog we call Pedro lives at a construction site in the Agave Azul neighborhood. When Pedro broke his leg, we took charge of his vet care, including return visits to check and replace the cast as required, while Pedro continued to live at the construction site.

 ADNL is now settled on donated land just outside of Bucerias where we have completed a kennel building, as well as numerous outdoor kennels and a play area.  The kennel building has a concrete pad and a roof, and 10 of its kennels offer both inside and outdoor space. 

 In addition to the kennel building, we now have a section of 5 kennels that are about 13 square feet each, 2 larger kennels for bigger dogs, and a new section of 8 kennels for new arrivals.  Our fenced-in play area provides a place for dogs to chase balls and run. We have a water system to ensure fresh water multiple times a day for the dogs, and we recently completed a bathroom with a composting toilet system.  All of this was accomplished with generous donations and volunteer help from our supporters.  

ADNL’s next big project is a solar panel system to provide electricity to the shelter.  This will enable us to have a refrigerator for medications, lights around the property for safety, and the ability to wash towels and blankets on site.

 We are always happy to show off our dogs, and we have many wonderful candidates  available for adoption.  If you are in the Bucerias, Nayarit, area and are interested in adoption, please email us at adogsnewlife@gmail.  You’re also welcome to come out to the shelter, cuddle and walk some dogs, or get involved in other ways.  

If Mexico isn’t in your travel plans just yet, you can still assist our work with a donation. Please visit A Dog's New Life to learn about the many ways your financial contribution could be put to good use. The street dogs of Banderas Bay will thank you!