The pet culture in Mexico

We're in Kino Bay, Sonora, tiny village but Hermosillo is an hour away with Costco and Walmart. We drive to Tucson once a month or so for doctor visits and stock up there. Better grades of dog food available from our vet, only cheap brands in the shops. The locals seem to love puppies, but when they're grown they become starving street dogs. The local economy barely feeds people, they can't afford to feed, neuter, or vaccinate their pets. Heartbreaking.

In England, Canada and the US, dogs are generally treated as part of the family.  In Mexico that can be true as well but it will frequently depend on the financial and sophistication level of the owners.  There are a lot of dogs in Mexico, in fact, I recently read that Mexico has more dogs per family than any other country on the planet.  We have seven rescue dogs from Canada, the US and México ourselves. That said, there is a lot more to say.
First, let me say that we have found Veternarian care to be excellent and very affordable.  We have homes in Baja and Quintana Roo and have found in both places Veternarians we prefer well beyond the very expensive Veternarians we had in the first world.
As for pet supplies, there is everything you need here in Mexico from food to medical supplies, collars, leashes and clothes.  You just have to figure out where to find it.  It is not always going to be where you might expect. Generally, the costs are going to be equal or far less than in Canada and the US.  In small villages, where both our homes are, we have to drive into the larger cities where there are Veternarians, agricultural and veterinary supply specialty outlets.  Large bags of dog food are usually found at large box chains which are in most larger cities.  Not all brands are available which is why many expats we know drive into the US to get their favor brands.  We used to do that until we learned that the dogs don't seem to care about brands like we humans do.
Traveling with pets (especially 7 dogs) can be problematic.  Most Mexican hotels will not accept pets.  We have found that clandestine stays at “no tell motels” works if you don't let them know about the pets and clean up any accidents before you leave.  “No tell motels” are found on the outskirts of most larger cities an you recognize them with a little practice.  Apparently they are a flourishing business in Mexico.
Roughly 50% of Mexican house holds are poor.  In Mexico dogs are the “poor man's alarm system”.  In poor, less sophisticated households, dogs are common but they are often treated distressingly badly.  They are sometimes tied up or pinned up in horrible conditions.  Often they are ignored and freely roam around eating anything they can find.  They are frequently not spayed or neutered.  I have frequently seen dogs kicked, sick with all kinds of horrible diseases, malnourished, neglected and obviously abandoned.  In some areas,  roaming dogs are a real problem and some communities have to euthanize them.  I may have overly generalized in the paragraph but it is generally true and the Mexican people are an incredible mix of thoughts, opinions and sophistication levels.
In summary, at least for dogs, Mexico can be a great place, as is true everywhere. it all depends on how they are treated by their masters.

Pretty much true Ian,

Way too many dogs in Mexico, most, unfortunately, are untrained. Every city has packs of abandoned dogs. As for security other than barking when someone comes to the door they provide none,  I basically used training devices to get my neighbors dogs under control now my neighbors and their dogs are happier. My neighbors are nice people, but grandma said barking all night for no reason was just the way dogs are.  She wasn't hearing anything different. I have had trained dogs so I knew that wasn't so. I used a sonic system to deter the dogs. Now they are calmer and only bark for a good reason. Four robberies occurred in my neighborhood, dogs didn't make any difference at all.

As for pet care, there are all kinds of pet toys in the mall and in the stores. I have heard from my friend who has dogs that vet care is very good. Like everywhere else animal care depends on the owners. Some of it is good and a lot of it is not. often they feel like my neighbor did that dogs do not require any training or management. Some just go on vacation leaving the dog with no water tied up in the yard.
I don't have pets because I travel too much. I also fear that the disease and pest risk is too high.

Mexicans generally don't keep pets. They are guard animals.
Mexicans fear almost all dogs.
I am an animal person so those don't bother me. I raised dogs for 20 years.
I call in turkeys, and they follow me. I have called in wolves at nature areas when city folk could not even spot them after I say there, there, and there. Similarly with hawks.  Sadly Mexican zoos are prison cells for animals.
I have walked up to Mexican guard dogs. Properly introduced myself. And have been kissed on the hand.
After which Mexicans ask , “ what did you do to my dog?”
I recall one German shepherd, aggressive, not well attended, after several visits he liked me more than his family. One day he got out of the house. He jumped me and pretended to mall me. The neighbors yelled , “ he's going to die. Call the police.” I yelled, “ we're just playing “. Then I signaled enough. We both walked off.

For expats pets are excepted here. Especially the well behaved ones.
There veterinary services.
There are pampering care centers .
There are parks, but not pet parks.
There are clean up rules.

And if you aquire a Mexican dog they're not so bad. They're often better than the officials. I knew one man who adopted 3 street dogs. In no time they had him trained to feed them with a fork.

Here goes my meager experience:  dogs are much more common than cats, but lots of those are pit bulls chained 24/7, used as alarm systems.  For indoor pets, Central Americans prefer Chihuahuas.  O yeah -- heartworm pills are usually not in the budget.  The dogs of our Hispanic neighbors here in Houston live for 5 years, then keel over from heartworms.  Our neighbors don't understand why we spend "so much money" on heartworm pills when it's so much cheaper to just get another dog.  Cats are not that common as pets, but I've seen some, often in pitiful shape, crippled and starved.  Our well-fed guys often attracted visitors to our house because the locals had never seen what we consider "normal size" cat, i.e. 10 to 12 pounds.
Yes, you can find rentals for pets.  We're going to spend this summer in San Miguel de Allende and found a house to rent, in a nice part of town and for not that much money, with our 2 dogs and 4 cats.

We visited San Miguel last year and found no shortage of pet supplies at the big grocery stores, mostly US made. 
We saw quite a few "veterinario" signs, too.  But before we leave, I intend to find out from the San Miguel expats which one is the best vet in town.  I lived in Guatemala for years and found out the hard way that the sign "veterinario" does NOT necessarily mean that "vet" ever went to vet school.  At least in Guatemala, anybody can hang out that shingle.  Also the shingle for "dentista" although they had never seen the inside of a dental school.  Around Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, the joke goes that there are 22 dentistas, and one of them had actually really gone to a legitimate dental school.  I had figured that out myself after the first visit to a "dentista" there and unfortunately had to watch what some of those "veterinarios" did to my animals.

About the puppies vs. adult dogs:  I've seen exactly the same thing here in Houston with my Hispanic neighbors.  They pay $50 for a puppy, parade it around on a leash for a few weeks.  When that puppy stops being cute, grows and jumps up on people -- out they go, and they're lucky if there's a fenced in yard.  Heartworm pills?  Vaccinations?  Neutering?  No. No. No.  It's cheaper to buy a new dog every few years.

I've paid for neutering some big dogs in my neighborhood because I just couldn't stand the twice-a-year litters of ugly puppies.  I had not known puppies could BE that ugly.  It took work to persuade the owners to even let me do that.  Fertility still is queen with lots of Hispanic people, just like they don't seem to mind when their daughters get pregnant, repeatedly, without being married, without an education or a way to support those babies.  Usually the families take it in stride and simply incorporate the new arrival. 

Over a course of about 10 years, I've also trapped and neutered all feral neighborhood cats, had the feleuk positive ones euthanized.  The cat situation in the mountains of Guatemala is horrid.

Most of the Kino Bay expats belong to our Club Deportivo, originally organized for the Rescue One boating watch. Now it's a social club/good-works combo, and one part of it is the Kino Bay Spay/Neuter Association. Through donations and in coordination with our local (semi-competent) veterinarian, they've neutered 600 dogs here in the last 8 years. I swear there are  600 more still roaming the streets here.

I notice steveandmarty that most of your experience seems to be in Houston with a sprinkling of Guatemala.  Although interesting, it does not answer the question posted.

What I have observed in Mexico is that the vet care is very good, some will actually go out of their way to get medications for their pets, most dogs are not pit bulls here and few are Chihuahuas. I know of one group that brings strays in and gets them spayed and one person made a little cart for his Dachshund when it lost control of its hind end ( a common Dachshund problem) There are many part Dachshunds as well as part beagles and other larger dogs.

I heard expats talking about a monumental effort with the stray dogs in San Miguel de Allende, and it sure shows in the streets of SMA.  At least in the main streets.  When you wander into purely Hispanic areas of town, the picture is still pitiful.  Is the Kino Bay Club also in other towns of Mexico, do you know?  I will definitely volunteer at the SMA animal shelter.  I visited it last summer and it is a very unique place, sort of built into a mountainside.  Lots of expats taking care of the critters there, I'll fit right in.

No idea. I've never been anywhere in Mexico south of here.

Well, you can add a few more locations to my resume:  Berlin 26 years (not one single solitary stray animal ANYwhere; strict laws and almost empty shelters); Indianapolis 10 years (not too bad),  then Guatemala (4 years) and the heartbreak of that situation. Now I'm back in Houston in a barrio with Hispanic immigrants, and that's the situation I was describing. 
In Guatemala City I found one competent vet, but he treated dogs almost exclusively and wasn't too knowledgeable about cats.  Still, he performed hip surgery on my German Shepherd and it turned out better than similar surgery I've seen done in the US. 
But you are right:  Guatemala is not Mexico, and apart from the 10 days in San Miguel last year, I don't have much experience with Mexican critters.  I hope this coming summer in SMA will be less stressful than Guatemala.

Is there anybody in San Miguel de Allende who can refer a decent vet?  Like, one who actually went to vet school (pardon me harping on that, but it's one of several miserable Guatemala memories that keep haunting me).

Also, is there a Costco anywhere near SMA?  We buy our dry pet food there, it's very good quality and cheap.  Not just "reasonable", it's downright cheap.

About the dachsies:  that's odd, I've never seen an abundance of dachsies anywhere - unless they're mixed with chihuahua.  Not a particularly gorgeous mix - and both of my dogs are mixed breeds and rescues.

SteveandMarty wrote:

About the dachsies:  that's odd, I've never seen an abundance of dachsies anywhere - unless they're mixed with chihuahua.  Not a particularly gorgeous mix - and both of my dogs are mixed breeds and rescues.

Tells me SMA is not interested in Dachshunds. I think many get cute puppies and when they grow many lose interest in them. I have seen no pit bulls, but that doesn't mean there are none. 
I just felt that sweeping generalizations based on limited areas didn't address the question. SMA is sort of an outlier. It is different than most of Mexico.

Your information says a lot about what SMA is like, which is useful for anyone wanting to go there.  It also says a lot about Mexicans living in Houston and natives in Guatemala. That is useful information also.

Please keep up your rescue efforts that is wonderful.

SteveandMarty wrote:

Also, is there a Costco anywhere near SMA?  We buy our dry pet food there, it's very good quality and cheap.  Not just "reasonable", it's downright cheap.

No Costco, no Sam's Club, no Carl' s Jr. and no KFC. in SMA the last time I visited.

Well,it's not always wonderful.  Last night a very sick looking cat walked up to our house, couldn't eat.  I took him to the vet this morning, he was feleuk positive, very far into it, and I had him put to sleep.  So, here I sit bawling again.  Doesn't seem to matter how many times I've gone through it already.

Yes, I also got the feeling that SMA is an outlier, that's part of the attraction.  The USA is politically too crazy right now.  I'm Jewish and freak out whenever a minority is targeted for a mass shooting, like in New Zealand last week.  We've had enough bomb threats at our local Jewish Community Center already (husband works there). Germany is too cold, and I've had more than enough of roughing it in Guatemala.  All of the SMA Hispanic people I met last summer on our vacation there, were courteous and -- get this -- they understood my Guatemalan campesino pidgin Spanish!!  And I understood them which is more than I can say for my Hispanic neighbors here in Houston.  Also, every single one of the expats we approached for information, were most helpful and friendly. 

So, SMA get ready for Steve and Marty in May.