Important News | SOSChapalaDOGRescue

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May 23, 2022

It is with a heavy heart that we make this important announcement: SOS Chapala Dog Rescue will shut down imminently. Effective immediately, the shelter will not accept any new dogs for any reason.

After many attempts to collaborate with the municipal government, we’ve reached an impasse. The new government has made it clear that the shelter cannot remain in its current government-provided location. However, the government has been unable to provide alternative land or funding for replacement facilities. As a self-funded, volunteer-managed dog shelter, SOS does not have the capital to finance a land purchase and rebuild facilities. This leaves us with no alternative but to shut down our operation.

This is a sad day for everyone involved with SOS, the local street dog population, and the community at large. Over the last two years, we have transformed ourselves from a mere land lease to shelter that now enjoys an international reputation for excellence for healthy, well-socialized dogs. We’ve found new homes for nearly 300 mistreated and homeless dogs from the

Ajijic area and are one of the few shelters with a full-time veterinarian on staff. We currently have 95 dogs in our care that need homes more urgently than ever. Our priority is to work with our North of the Border partner shelters to find placements for these existing dogs and to facilitate as many local adoptions as we can before we close. If you would like to support our mission to find placements for these dogs, here are the best ways that you can help:

Donate. All funds support the preparation of our dogs for shelters north of the border where they have a better chance of being adopted and to offset transportation costs. Donate online through our website.
Foster. Fostering dogs prepares them for new homes. Fill out the form on the Contact Page of our website and we will be in touch.
Volunteer as a flight angel. Aside from our established North of the Border programs, we are working to form partnerships with additional shelters. This will require more flight angels to transport dogs to their new homes via air travel. If you are interested in being a flight angel, fill out the form on the Contact Page of our website.

Thank you to all of our volunteers, staff, donors, and community supporters. You have done so much to support us over the last two years. We hope that you will continue to support us in this time of great—and final—need.