How to Catch a Gnarly Street Dog

One of the problems which Ayuda deals with on a daily basis is the safe capture of uncooperative feral dogs.

However, Ayuda Board Member Dr. Dennys has come up with a solution which he successfully exercised during a recent clinic.

Street dog tranquilized from afar by a blow pipe dart 30-Nov-09

With practice, a special blow pipe can inject a tranquilizer dart from as far away as 15 yards.

But using this technique is not for amateurs.

Care must be taken to not use darts which can be harmful for the types and sizes of the animals to be captured.

Over-sized darts have been known to do harm, such as lung punctures and bone damage.

And darts which do not have the proper or adequate amount of tranquilizer fluid may cause an animal to wander too far into dangerous traffic before going to sleep.

Dennys and helpers prepare tranquilizer darts during a special clinic 30-Nov-09

As a solution for the Guatemalan chuchos (mutts), Dr. Dennys has developed a technique for making his own customized and less expensive tranquilizer darts.

Dennys’ method was practiced successfully during the November09 Santa Catarina clinic.

As a result, several Santa Catarina street dogs, which we were otherwise unable to safely capture, have now been sterilized and vaccinated.

Dr. Dennys and his trusty blow pipe 30-Nov-09