Spay and Stay is a part vacay & part save animals experience in La Ventana, Baja California Sur, Mexico, a small town 45 minutes outside of La Paz on the Sea of Cortez. The area is the #1 kiteboarding destination in the world & known for beautiful sea life. La Ventana has one vet who services La Ventana, the neighboring town of El Sargento, and all the ranches on the outskirts.  Maeday Rescue is teaming up with Bark for Baja, the only local rescue, which is supported by the kiteboarding community, to help bring free spay & neutering to the residents of La Ventana and El Sargento. When we aren’t volunteering at the clinic, we’ll be lounging at the beautiful Casa Tara Retreat, with its infinity pool and private beach or you can explore the town and take kiteboarding lessons!
As a volunteer, you will assist with a wide range of tasks to help have an efficient, sterile, and comfortable environment. Duties range from checking dogs in (if you’re bilingual and speak Spanish we need you here!), weighing and shaving the animals, washing towels and replenishing the supplies for vets, helping wake and comfort the animals post surgery, clipping nails, etc. Remember no experience is needed!
Spaying and neutering the animals in a community is hugely beneficial in many ways. Not only can it be beneficial to the animal’s health, (for example, reducing the risk of mammary gland tumors, ovarian or uterine cancer in females and decreasing aggression in males), it helps control the population that can quickly get out of control. When we were just in La Ventana coordinating for the trip, we visited just one momma who had 10 puppies. If all those puppies aren’t fixed and have ten puppies of their own, you can see how quickly it gets out of control. By fixing 60 dogs, we could prevent 600 strays from roaming the streets without proper food, water or medical care. As a kiteboarding destination the population of La Ventana and the surrounding community drastically ebbs and flows during the high and low seasons leaving months where there are just not as many people around to take care of new puppies being born. In partnership with Bark for Baja we hope to reduce and prevent animal suffering in La Ventana.Â
Â
The San José del Cabo (SJD) airport is about 2 hours from La Ventana. There are many reasonable flights in and out of this airport as it's a large destination. You can also fly into La Paz which is just one hour from La Ventana but has fewer flight options because it's a smaller airport. We will help coordinate shuttles to and from the airport once flight times are confirmed.Â
$160/night per person
Â
Casa Tara Retreat is an intimate boutique hotel with modern cozy rooms that all have spectacular views of the Sea of Cortez. Amenities include an infinity pool and fun beach gear like paddleboards, kayaks and snorkels. We're reserving the whole place for our group.
The price includes three meals a day and each room will have two guests.Â
Check out sample menus here!
Â
La Moringa, the restaurant at Casa Tara, will be nourishing us with healthy options so we can stay strong and energized for the clinic. Please let us know about any dietary restrictions so we can plan for vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, etc. options.
Click Join Us! to submit your contact information. After you submit your information, you'll receive an email with a link to place a $200 nonrefundable deposit through PayPal. Once you're confirmed we'll stay in touch with travel details, a packing list, and everything you will need to know to prepare. The remaining balance will be collected one month before the clinic.
If you can't go but want to help with the spay and neuter clinic, you can support the cause by donating to Maeday Rescue on the website. When you donate leave a note and let us know it's for the spay and neuter clinic.
