WESTVILLE resident Claudia Mamet is making big strides in changing mindsets and educating locals in Southern Mexico about the benefits of dog and cat sterilisations.

The former Pinetown Girls’ High School learner started her own NGO, Dogs of Puerto Angel, after seeing the suffering and abuse of so many dogs and cats in the Oaxaca region where she teaches English at a local university.

Mamet, who said she has always been passionate about animal welfare and activism, has done an incredible amount of work raising funds, meeting with municipalities and local vets, recruiting volunteers and educating the locals about the benefits of sterilising cats and dogs to reduce the overpopulation and suffering of street animals, which is rife in that region.

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Since she was little, Mamet said that, at home, they were surrounded by fur friends that were rescued or adopted from the SPCA.

“I have always been inspired by the work that the SPCA and other animal rescues do,” she said.

She said there is currently an overpopulation of stray animals in the area who suffer from malnutrition, disease, injury and abuse.

“There are no government-run sterilisation programmes or animal shelters here, and the only method currently used by local people to control overpopulation is through poisoning the strays.”

To prevent this immense suffering, Dogs of Puerto Angel aims to offer regular, large-scale spay/neuter campaigns around Puerto Angel to the communities that don’t have the resources to sterilise their animals.

“We also run education campaigns in local schools and community centres to educate local communities about the importance of sterilising and caring for their pets.”

Dogs of Puerto Angel currently spays and neuters about 1 000 dogs and cats a year and aims to double that number with more international support.

At her home in Westville, they have a dog that Mamet rescued in South Korea and another she rescued in India. After hearing her inspiring stories about the animals she rescues, people travel to Mexico to adopt some of the animals and take them back to their home countries.

“I recently had a man come to Mexico to take one of my rescue dogs to Holland.”

Everywhere she goes, Mamet rescues animals and educates people about being responsible pet owners.

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“This is something that I am very passionate about – rescuing animals is my life,” she said with a smile.

Mamet said she works a lot with children and teaches them to see the beauty of rescuing animals. “Kids are our future. The way they treat animals now will shape how animals are treated in years to come,” she commented.

Working closely with the municipality, she said her wish is to open the very first centre of safety for dogs and cats in Oaxaca which would be based on a similar model as South Africa’s SPCA.

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