Where we work

Locations visited & the partners who make it possible.

FARVets plans, organizes, and implements clinics to assist animal welfare groups in the US and abroad. We have partnered with small grassroots organizations in Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Grenada, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Bulgaria — working alongside them in underserved regions to address overpopulation, educate communities, and train veterinary students.

Our current longest-running partnerships are with Fantasma Animal Rescue in Guatemala, Ban Obuon Dog Sanctuary in Thailand, and Sangkhlaburi Animal Sanctuary in Thailand.

FARVets team and partners posing together in front of the Sangkhlaburi Animal Sanctuary in Thailand — With our partners at Sangkhlaburi Animal Sanctuary, Thailand — local staff, students, and visiting veterinarians at the end of a clinic day.

Regions served

Where FARVets has worked.

United States

Domestic fundraising clinics and community sterilization days that serve underserved U.S. communities and strengthen local animal welfare networks.

Central America & the Caribbean

Clinics in Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Grenada, and Nicaragua — including the 2010 first trip to Playa del Carmen with Coco's Cat Rescue.

Eastern Europe

Partnerships with grassroots animal welfare groups in Bulgaria, combining community clinics with hands-on training for veterinary students.

South America

Rotating field programs that combine sterilization surgery with hands-on training for veterinary students and local practitioners.

Africa

Field clinics supporting community animal welfare organizations in resource-limited settings.

Southeast Asia

Sterilization and wellness campaigns in partnership with local NGOs and welfare groups.

Partnerships

We do not work alone.

Every clinic is a collaboration. Our partners provide space, trust, local knowledge, and follow-up capacity — the things that turn a one-time visit into lasting change.

FARVets clinic team preparing a calico cat for surgery at an outdoor sterilization clinic

Animal shelters & rescues

Local shelters host clinics, identify animals in need, and help us reach the families who love them.

Veterinary universities

Universities provide students, mentors, and clinical spaces that turn every trip into a teaching opportunity.

Municipal governments

City and regional governments help us access communities, secure permits, and align programs with public health goals.

NGOs & animal welfare groups

Grassroots organizations translate cultural context, recruit clients, and ensure our work respects local norms.

FARVets clinicians and students working together during a clinic day in the Yucatan

FARVets team holding puppies with local partners in the Yucatan

Central America & the Caribbean

Partners in the Yucatan Peninsula.

Mexico

Our longest-running international work happens in and around Quintana Roo and the Riviera Maya, alongside small grassroots groups that know their communities intimately.

Coco's Animal Welfare

Playa del Carmen

Coco's Animal Welfare, led by Laura Raikes, welcomes FARVets annually to participate in their Playa del Carmen low-cost spay and neuter clinic. Coco's was the first location FARVets worked with abroad and it will remain on the FARVets destination roster every March. Dr. Katie Emerson currently leads this annual clinic. She and Coco's four veterinarians work one-on-one to assist student surgeons with the sterilization of street dogs and cats from surrounding villages and shelters.

Coco's is building a new facility from which they run a low-cost spay and neuter clinic with special medical discounts for stray and recently rescued animals. Although not operating as a shelter, Coco's has a kitten rescue program and keeps up to 20 kittens on site for adoption at one time.

Visit cocosanimalwelfare.org

Planned Pethood

Puerto Morelos

FARVets worked with Planned Pethood for the first time this past March to orchestrate a free spay and neuter clinic for dogs and cats. Most of the animals were transported from a local community by volunteers. FARVets student surgeons performed surgeries under the supervision of Dr. Paul Maza.

FARVets was proud to have been the first organization to run a surgery clinic in the beautiful new Planned Pethood headquarters. The facility is under construction near Puerto Morelos. The finished facility will include a full surgery suite and recovery room, examination rooms, a training facility and dorms for veterinary students. FARVets is looking forward to working with Planned Pethood annually.

MAOW

Chetumal

FARVets visits Chetumal every other year to run a free spay and neuter clinic for animals belonging to local shelter organizations and low-income residents of the city. MAOW and other rescue organizations depend on international groups to provide spay and neuter surgeries for their animal residents. Student surgeons are supervised by Dr. Paul Maza.

S.O.S. el Arca

Playa del Carmen

SOS el Arca is a no-kill shelter located on the outskirts of Playa del Carmen founded by Sylvie Goetz in 2011. It is a group-housing-based shelter serving as the home to over 100 dogs. The organization rescues adoptable dogs from local pounds where animals are euthanized after a three-day holding period. FARVets participants assess animals with medical issues and provide flea, tick and deworming treatments.

Visit soselarca.org

Tierra de Animales

Cancun

Tierra de Animales (Land of Animals) in the forests outside of Cancun is a sanctuary for neglected animals that has a dedicated indoor/outdoor facility for the housing of stray and abandoned cats. FARVets provides vaccines and medical care for cats in preparation and hope that they will be adopted into loving homes. Tierra de Animales offers shelter for over 200 dogs as well, and FARVets participants have helped with bathing and deworming the dogs in the sanctuary.

Visit tierradeanimales.org

FARVets team posing together along the Costa Rican coast

Central America & the Caribbean

Partnerships in the Central Pacific region.

Costa Rica

Working alongside grassroots organizations to deliver free spay and neuter clinics in coastal communities.

Asociación Pro Bienestar Animal

Tárcoles

FARVets worked with Asociación Pro Bienestar Animal in 2013 to run a free spay and neuter clinic for villages around Tárcoles. The organization is part of The McKee Project in Costa Rica and was founded in 2003 to address the issue of overpopulation and help with animal health care and adoption.

Asociación Pro Bienestar Animal is able to spay and neuter more than 1,000 animals per year, both stray animals and those from low-income families, as well as treat and find homes for over 500 dogs and cats each year.

FARVets team members carry a pet carrier through a rural Belize village on the way to a clinic

Central America & the Caribbean

Annual clinic days on the Caribbean coast.

Belize

Free spay, neuter, and treatment clinics for pets belonging to people in Hopkins Village, coordinated through U.S. and Belize volunteers.

Hopkins Belize Humane Society

Hopkins Village

FARVets works with the Hopkins Belize Humane Society to run an annual free spay, neuter, and treatment clinic for pets belonging to people in Hopkins Village. The Hopkins Belize Humane Society depends on clinics coordinated through U.S. and Belize volunteers to offer these services to the surrounding community. Student surgeons are supervised by Dr. Paul Maza.

FARVets team members working at a community clinic station in Nicaragua

Central America & the Caribbean

Education, eco-tourism, and community care.

Nicaragua

A partnership built around La Mariposa, a Spanish school and eco-hotel outside La Concepción that rescues street dogs and provides free local medical care.

In January 2016, FARVets partnered with Paulette Goudge, PhD and the wonderful staff at La Mariposa, a Spanish school and eco-hotel outside the pueblo of La Concepción in Nicaragua. La Mariposa is much more than a tourist destination: the non-profit organization rescues street dogs, provides free medical care for local animals, rescues horses for use in their rehabilitation program, and much more.

Paulette founded La Mariposa in 2006 and has worked to make sure the non-profit benefits the surrounding community by providing jobs and supporting local industry. Working with the staff at Mariposa, FARVets ran three days of free surgical sterilization clinics at two separate La Mariposa sites, plus a one-day free wellness clinic. The FARVets clinic provided over 140 locally owned animals with medical care.

Street dog overpopulation is an overwhelming problem in Nicaragua, and FARVets is planning a return trip to run additional spay/neuter clinics with La Mariposa in the villages surrounding La Concepción.

Visit mariposaspanishschool.com

FARVets clinicians performing surgery on a cat at a Thailand clinic

Southeast Asia

Our farthest journey to date.

Thailand

From Phuket to Takua Pa and the island of Koh Phayam, FARVets sterilized and vaccinated temple animals and pets belonging to local villagers.

The FARVets trip to Thailand was the farthest the NGO has traveled to date. The team met up in Phuket and was transported to Takua Pa in the Phang Nga region to stay at Thai Life Homestay, where the owners and operators hosted the FARVets team. Thai Life Homestay is a supporter of local temples, regularly bringing food and supplies to care for the temple dogs.

FARVets worked out of several temples and in a village on the island of Koh Phayam to sterilize and vaccinate the temple dog and cat residents and pets belonging to local villagers.

The local communities were so grateful for the clinic that FARVets was invited to return to provide more clinics. The regional Thai government heard about the good work that FARVets did and promised to build upon the momentum and fund clinics there in the future.

FARVets Thailand was a huge success. It was the farthest the FARVets team had been from home, with all new cultural experiences. What wasn’t new was the gracious hospitality and commitment to animal welfare of our host partners, and the dedicated human-animal bond pet owners shared with their pets. We’re looking forward to returning to Thailand!

FARVets team posing together with a local dog during a clinic in Bulgaria

Eastern Europe

Our first Eastern European destination.

Bulgaria

Sofia was the first Eastern European city incorporated into FARVets’ pantheon of international partners. The overwhelming feral dog and cat problem in the city, coupled with inadequate local resources, made Sofia an ideal location for a FARVets clinic.

Dobro Hrumvane

Sofia

FARVets partnered with the phenomenal staff at Dobro Hrumvane clinic in the capital city of Sofia this past year. Reports of feral dog problems in the city even include rabid attacks. Dobro Hrumvane offers occasional low-cost services for stray animals at one of their two clinics. The hospital allowed FARVets to use this clinic space to run a week-long free spay/neuter clinic for local rescue groups.

FARVets modified the single-table surgical suite to accommodate three simultaneous student surgeries and completed a total of 83 sterilization surgeries over four clinic days. FARVets plans to return to Bulgaria annually.

Visit dobrohrumvane.com

Animal Rescue Sofia

Sofia

Animal Rescue Sofia is the only registered non-governmental dog shelter in Bulgaria. The no-kill facility is home to over 200 dogs, mostly animals rescued from the street. FARVets examined dogs with medical problems, worked with animals with behavior issues and administered deworming medication and Certifect, a flea and tick preventative donated by Merial.

FARVets participants also helped organize supplies for the new veterinary clinic Animal Rescue Sofia is building on site.

FARVets team running a feral cat spay and neuter clinic in New York State

United States

Local clinics and feral cat services.

New York State

In addition to our international work, FARVets is committed to serving animals right here at home. Through local sterilization clinics and mobile feral cat services, we support communities across New York State while giving veterinary students hands-on experience in compassionate, high-quality care.

Feral cat services in New York State

Although our primary focus is assisting grassroots organizations internationally, we recognize that there is a feral cat overpopulation issue right here in New York State. FARVets provides a mobile spay and neuter service for feral cats. We will work at any site with a sheltered space for us to set up our equipment and tables. We have worked on site at farms, schools, the homes of local feral cat trappers and SPCAs.

Sterilization surgeries are performed by Cornell Veterinary Students who have completed surgical training. The students are supervised by Professor Paul Maza, DVM, PhD, Director of FARVets. Cats are given injections of a long acting pain control drug and antibiotic prior to release. A surgical closure technique that does not require suture removal is used for these surgeries.

Become a partner.

If your shelter, university, municipality, or organization is interested in co-designing a program with FARVets, we would love to talk.

Start a conversation Support our work