We went on vacation and came back with a baby!

My name is Rebecca and this is the story of Luna Maya - a Méxican street dog born on the streets of Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, México. She was fortunate enough to be rescued and brought to the Peanut Pet Shelter in Playa del Carmen. Peanut Pet Shelter is a no-kill animal shelter dedicated to rescuing and re-homing injured and abandoned dogs and cats (www.peanutpetshelter.org).

Her breed and history are not well known as is the case with so many of the dogs you see all over México. As in many developing countries, dogs and cats are often left to fend for themselves. Money is not available for families to properly spay and neuter their dogs & cats and so in many areas the stray population is out of control. Unlike the United States & Canada, there are very few non-profit organizations that are in a position to provide resources to care for these animals. They are left to fend for themselves - many riddled with parasites, communicable diseases, and many suffering abuse from humans. The people at Peanut Pet Shelter have seen many heartbreaking situations where dogs & puppies have been cut with machetes, had ears sliced, been spray painted, and had boiling water poured on them. Things you can't imagine people ever even thinking of doing, let alone actually doing it.

My husband Steve & I have been traveling once a year to Playa del Carmen since 2006. We love the area and enjoy the beaches, the diving, the atmosphere -- just about everything we love can be found in and around Playa. We are also dog lovers and have always had a soft spot for all animals. We became aware of Peanut Pet Shelter in Playa del Carmen on an internet forum dedicated to all things Playa (www.playa-info.). On this past trip, we were fortunate enough to be able to mule some supplies down to them and on Tuesday, November 24th, were rented a car and headed over to the shelter.

I should back up a bit and give you a little history ...

Prior to adopting Luna, we already had a rottweiler named Bronson and a rescue named Jack. We think Jack is a border collie/aussie shepard mix. When we left for our last trip to Playa, Steve told me we were absolutely not adopting a dog. :) Back to the story.....

When we arrived @ the shelter, we found a gaggle of volunteers cleaning pens, power washing the puppy kennels, picking up poop, feeding, watering and administering medications. They had approximately 108 dogs & puppies. They have 4 or 5 large pens where they segregate the dogs into smaller packs based on personality. They also have 4 or 5 covered cement kennels for the puppies & any mothers who come in with puppies. It is a very nice, well organized set up.

I told myself I would not get my hopes up about bringing home a puppy. Prior to leaving, I had told Andy (he and his wife Jen founded the shelter) that I really wanted to bring home a dog and we were joking about putting a plan in motion to win Steve over. However, I really didn't want to pressure Steve and force him into bringing home a dog. I made sure not to pick a puppy out that I really wanted. If it was going to happen, it was going to be Steve who picked one out.

As it turns out, Steve was picked by a puppy! She won his heart rather quickly and within about 30 minutes, I heard Steve asking Andy how difficult it was to bring a dog home to the U.S. It turns out it is not difficult at all!!! More on that later...

We agreed with Andy that we would check with our airline and he would make arrangements to bring the puppy to the vet for a complete checkup. We said our goodbyes and told them we'd be back for the dog wash on Saturday.

The following Saturday, a large group was picked up at a grocery store by Andy and another volunteer from the shelter, Gary. We headed to the shelter for the Saturday Dog Wash. It was fun but backbreaking! We washed 108 dogs and puppies! By the end of the visit we were wet, smelly, and sore but all of us were smiling! It is a great opportunity for the dogs to be socialized with people and we got a lot of satisfaction thinking we helped -- even if was just for a few hours.

We were also able to spend some time with our new baby. Here are some pictures from the shelter visit on Tuesday (I forgot my camera for the dog wash). Stay tuned for Luna's adoption process and traveling home....

Sweet baby....

Lots of puppies! Luna Maya getting belly rubs from Mommy!

Itchy & Scratchy

Itchy & Scratchy and the big and beautiful Thor