Once again, we take off on our regular neutering campaigns centered around the village of Banichan.

We have had inquiries for about a month, with locals asking about our starting date. It’s encouraging to have evidence, once again, that our work has become an ingrained part of life in the area.

We get booking requests, while others ask us if we could go visit their address. Our approach has an outreach aspect, so we say yes to both and bundle up nice and warm - it’s been a long, wet spring, and we have a two-week stretch of hard work again. With every neutering campaign, we aim to expand our coverage which means more traveling but better results too.

Let’s begin!

Our first case is a neighbor we’ve known since she was a puppy. She’s mature enough to be neutered - it’s time.

A young man awaits us downtown after he placed a call to us. He works in a car wash whose staff have informally adopted a young female dog. It is remarkable, the sheer amount of homeless hunting breeds you can see in Gotze Delchev town and the district. There are a host of explanations. Some get lost, and others give a ‘poor performance’ out in the woods according to their owners so they are swiftly replaced and subsequently, are left to fend for themselves. Some end up on the street as puppies, because their pure breed mother didn’t produce a litter of exemplary puppies. Speaking of mothers, those who did their duty all their life but are considered too old to breed face the same fate as the poor performers mentioned above - they are discarded in favor of a ‘newer model.’

We mustn’t neglect to mention the stubborn refusal of local hunters to neuter their hunting dogs. It is based on nothing but the myth that neutered dogs are poorer hunting dogs. That is patently untrue; there is ample evidence that any service dog is more focused and does its job better after it has been neutered.

An old female dog from a nearby village is living proof of all that. She has obviously been suffering from a skin condition so she was abandoned: an old, unattractive dog that is no longer desirable, much like a fancy accessory, so she is left to face adverse conditions on her own. Matters are made worse by the fact that she likely spent her life being someone’s pet unlike some of the dogs we meet that are literal ‘street dogs’ and have the ‘street smarts.’ She is a sweet, trusting dog relying on the kindness of strangers. We neuter her and we provide medication for her skin condition that we trust some of the people who’ve been keeping an eye on her will give to her on time.

At a sheep farm in one of the local villages, we have our hands full. Five or six large male dogs that display signs of skittishness and mistrust have found a home and work at the farm – they arrived one by one and the owner took them under his wing, feeding them while they protect his livestock. Mutual services rendered. The dogs have never seen a leash and are not keen on showing any signs of obedience or meekness. With a great deal of effort, patience, and some bribery we manage to get hold of three of them.

While our team is doing its outreach work, the job of those in the clinic never stops. There is an industrial zone outside Gotze Delchev town and a pack of dogs has been brought in from that area. They greet us at the start of our working day.

Our friends Bettina and Marianne, Swiss volunteers, join us for the second year in a row. We are thrilled to have such valuable, dedicated helping hands at our disposal.

We meet all kinds out there. Some are loving and trusting, others are fearful, and some are feral. They all take with them a piece of our hearts and even if it is for a short while, we give them all the kindness they should have had for granted.

Some animals touch us especially – like the small young bling mother from a local village. We pick her up for neutering at the village square. People who loiter outdoors meander our way and share that the dog has one puppy left from her litter, the rest have found homes. The dog doesn’t look underweight so we assume someone feeds her regularly. Still, it is a tough decision to send her back to the street but we have no choice: she has a little dependent and she has to be there for the puppy.

We are very happy to meet the local grocery shop owner. She is the young lady who has taken our blind patient under her wing, feeding her and providing shelter in her shop when necessary. She seems genuinely attached to the dog and doesn’t want to part with her. So while the little mother may not have a home, she isn’t really homeless. That’s a relief!

We come across a couple of ‘patients’ alongside the road – excited and friendly, they run our way as if we were old friends.

We don’t always have such luck. We have met that female dog already; she and her now grown litter roam a rough terrain outside the village. There are several abandoned buildings as well as a lot of overgrown vegetation that is out of control because of the rainy spring this year. A perfect place for hiding and disappearing if you are a dog. The dogs only come out in the evening to search for food but even then they run away like the wind at the mere sight of us; they’d rather forgo eating than approach us. We leave empty-handed yet again. Perhaps next time. Neutering is important but it can’t happen at the expense of hunger or immense stress for the dog.

The next generation is here, too, growing up untouched by human hands. It’s a true pack of wild dogs.

We arrive at one of the districts in Gotze Delchev populated mostly by Romani people. A man has asked us to spay his cats. They aren’t technically his since they live on the street outside his house but he kindly puts food and water out for them. It’s getting to be much – resources in the area aren’t plentiful for the human population, either.

The Romani district is full of cats. People have never engaged with us before despite our efforts. This time we have a breakthrough. We are at the tail end of this campaign but we already set aside a couple of days for the district for our next campaign.

The final tally: 400 dogs and cats neutered and spayed. It’s nothing to sneeze at but we always try to focus on what is left to do. Still, until next time, we’ll let ourselves be satisfied with the results.