If one is not a writer, an artist, or an ESL teacher, just what does an expat find to do all day when he moves to Mexico? You would be amazed at just how often I am asked that question.

Many assume life in Mexico would be too boring. In fact, some have come right out and told me this to my face. They think there would be nothing to do with their time. That assumption could be true or false, depending on where one lives in this wonderful country.

Many expatriates get involved in something that "gives back" to Mexico. The motive is they don't want to be people who just occupy time and space but want to do "something" that will return the favor to this country for allowing them to live here. In some areas where Gringos congregate, there are all manner of charitable groups in which one can get involved.

In the city of Guanajuato, there is a group called, Amigos de los Animales.

The harsh reality is that this group is much needed for the sadly neglected dogs and cats. While much progress has been made north of the border in the humane treatment of animals (though constant vigilance is required), south of the border, a different worldview exists about what does and does not constitute the humane treatment of animals.

A most difficult adjustment my wife and I had to make when we expatriated here in 2003 was witnessing how people treat dogs and cats. A common thing to see in this city is the roof dog phenomenon. This is so common. For reasons both imagined and real, Mexicans strand their dogs on the flat roofs of the houses and do not always treat them with the best of care.

Another hideous act we've personally witnessed is the wholesale abandonment of the animals they perceive they can no longer care for (or no longer desire to care for). Some regard it kinder to "cut the animal loose" on the streets in hopes that it will find a home. They think this is better than having the impossible-to-place pet put down.

Some neighbors, an "educated" couple (both had university degrees), thought it appropriate to leave six cats behind in an empty house after they moved out. They expected their landlord to deal with the situation. He didn't. Our landlady had to call someone to come over and turn the animals loose. The poor cats were without food or water.

I cannot tell you why so many Mexicans in Guanajuato treat their animals like this. Not all without exception do, of course. However, sufficient numbers do that it constitutes a huge problem in the city.

Subjectively speaking, it appears that only a small minority bothers to sterilize and vaccinate their animals. Fewer still will humanely euthanize their animals when they cannot place them elsewhere.

Amigos de los Animales (Friends of Animals) is out to change this.

This organization is a group of Gringo and Mexican animal lovers committed to doing something about the deplorable conditions many of the city's dogs and cats find themselves in. A nonprofit organization, recognized under Mexican law, this group is dedicated to:

Educate
Be aggressively involved in the rescue of dogs and cats
Hold periodic low-cost spay and neuter clinics
Work towards implementing humane local policies in treating animals.

Though they have no shelter, they do work with local veterinarians who provide sterilization and medical care for stray and unwanted pets at a reduced cost. Funds are constantly needed to support this group's efforts. If you are interested in more information about this group and how you can help, please visit their web site at:

www.amigosanimalesgto.org

As Americans, we should not regard how some Mexicans treat their animals with too much contempt. I can recall the situation being much the same in the States. Bad conditions still exist in some areas. The puppy and kitten mills in the Midwest are just as cruel as what you see here in Mexico.

We have a friend on a farm just outside where we lived in America who constantly gets dogs and cats turned loose on her property by passing motorists who do not, for reasons unknown, bother to take their unwanted or implacable pets to a shelter to be dealt with humanely.

To point fingers and to click the tongue with incriminations is not what works here. What's the point of that time-wasting activity?

The solution is massive education, providing affordable health services for the animals, and the last-resort humane euthanization of the pets when they cannot be placed elsewhere or are too ill to continue living.

It is a matter of changing a worldview. People always act according to their cultural and personal worldviews. It is time to change it here. It can be done.

Amigos de los Animales can do it!