By Paola Velasco
Crystal Calderoni heads a new project whose mission is achieving dignified treatment and better living conditions for the stray dogs and cats in San Miguel de Allende. In the past, the city’s Centro de Control Canino (Canine Control Center or CCC) picked them up and took them directly to the kennel, where they were often forgotten, with no hope of finding an adoptive family. Now, thanks to Calderoni’s initiative, she has been named “ambassador” within the domain of the CCC and has extensive plans for giving these animals more opportunities for a dignified life. Calderoni tells us more in this exclusive interview with Atención.
Atención: Tell us about the project.
Calderoni: Under the Mauricio Trejo administration, I am the new ambassador to the street dogs/cats that are under the control of the Canine Control Center (CCC). I am coordinating volunteer dog walks three times per week because the dogs/cats have been enclosed in cages without any walking space outside of their immediate surroundings since we were there in 2013. I started my activism against the last two administrations, and no one would ever give me the time of day, nor did they demonstrate any goodwill towards these street dogs after all of my vain attempts to shed light on one of the city’s «dirtiest secrets,» camouflaged under the veil of our UNESCO World Heritage status. Starting July 8, the dogs and a few cats who are captured on the streets of San Miguel will receive the love, dignity, and respect they deserve while they are waiting to be adopted, retrieved by their owners, or be put to sleep if a home isn’t found within 10 days. As volunteers, we will also bring home-cooked meals consisting of chicken broth, brown rice, and steamed veggies to supplement their low-standard diet of dry dog food. We will bathe, clean, and sterilize their cages to ensure they are not infected with fleas or ticks or transmitting disease to other dogs in the kennels.
Atención: How is the municipality of San Miguel de Allende supporting the project?
Calderoni: The grand project, to which Mauricio Trejo allocated 1 million pesos immediately after my presentation to him on June 8, involves the completion of an abandoned building which will now become a state-of-art, multi-use facility comprising of a vet clinic, X-ray and surgery rooms, recuperation rooms for dogs being sterilized, a pharmacy, my new office, including various other offices of those involved with the Canine Control Center, a kitchen for employees, ample bathrooms/showers, euthanization room, front lobby, laundry room, pantry-bodega, etc. With those funds, we are also adding additional enclosures to include outdoor spaces so the dogs can walk freely and socialize outside of their closed quarters while being properly being “observed.”
Atención: Do you work with volunteers and donations?
Calderoni: Yes, I am also raising donations across the board for these new facilities, including funds to meet the dire needs of the animals that are constantly being collected on the streets. These donations pay for quality dog food, cleaning supplies, sterilization medication, shampoo, flea powder, brushes, pallets, tarps, blankets, collars/leashes, furniture for the new center, and medical supplies/equipment. The list is ongoing, and anyone who wants to help by donating can email me separately at cpistolera@gmail.com or find me on my Facebook page under Crystal Calderoni. My Facebook page has updated videos of the project’s who, what, when, where, and why.
Atención: What are your plans?
Calderoni: Part of my new volunteer position will also be overseeing and creating city-wide sterilization and adoption/rescue programs, both domestically and internationally, in conjunction with my new NGO (in process) and the CCC. I aspire to collaborate and work with every local NGO whose main mission is the well-being of these neglected and abused animals, including Amigos de los Animales, the Lucky Dogs Club House, Patitas de Humanidad, Pro Canino de SMA, Santuario Animal Arkano, Santuario Felino Rey Ashoka, Pretty Little Perros, and the SPA. I will also create a specific page on Facebook with all the animals that arrive so that pet owners can hopefully be reunited with their loved ones through social media campaigns that the government ditched years ago. I am insisting that the government includes a map to CCC on their homepage with a link to my Facebook page since this has never been established, and most people can’t find their pets in time before they are unfortunately sacrificed.
Atención: Who are you collaborating with in this project? Calderoni: I have pretty much spearheaded this project, but my mentor is Vicky Moore in this endeavor along with Naomi Lawler and countless volunteers and donors that there isn’t room to mention in this article but who are always acknowledged on my Facebook page.
