#GivingTuesday is a global day for generosity. Please join me in supporting real change and creating more good in the world. Underdog Rescue makes a significant impact on the stray animal population on the Native American reservations of the Southwest United States, while supporting the families of the region through our free spay/neuter/vaccination clinics, vet care, transportation, and adoption services.

Even a small donation goes a long way to helping me meet my goal for Underdog Animal Rescue and Rehab.

Why do we want to do a spay/neuter/vaccination clinic monthly in 2022?

There are an estimated 250,000 stray dogs roaming just the Navajo Nation. The other reservations we work with do not provide any statistics. The life expectancy of these stray pups is just two years unless rescued, due to disease, lack of resources, the harsh elements of the area, and predators. This overwhelming stray population stems from the majority of dogs on the reservations not being altered, including the owned dogs.

The biggest reason owned dogs are unaltered is that many Native Americans cannot afford these simple surgeries. Roughly one-third of the population lives without running water or electricity, conditions hard for most Americans to fathom. Only two veterinarians serve the entire Navajo Nation (an area the size of West Virginia), so there is very minimal access to vet care of any sort. 40% of Native families live below the poverty line and only one in six Native Americans have a working vehicle, and gas, along with the price of medical care for pets is too high. Underdog helps bridge the gap!

Underdog contracts with a mobile clinic to go directly to remote communities on the Navajo Nation to provide free spay/neuter surgeries and other necessary medical care to owned animals. We bring thousands of pounds of pet food donations and other requested items to communities such as hygiene kits, winter coats, and backpacks and shoes for children. We bring unwanted stray dogs to our Rescue Ranch several times a week, and large volumes of surrendered animals back from clinics. We've rescued as many as 92 dogs from one clinic! Underdog invites, educates and empowers community members to take an active role in our clinics, and in our process. We host a dinner for community leaders during each clinic to promote collaboration so we are offering the most needed services as we move forward.

In 2021, we have hosted clinics every 8 weeks. Six clinics have spay/neutered/vaccinated 869 owned dogs and cats. During these clinics we also offer a vaccination/tick treatment/microchip component that has provided an additional 3289 vaccines, 759 tick treatments, and 151 microchips to owned animals.

I am asking you to help Underdog host spay and neuter clinics on the Navajo Nation every month in 2022. Help us double our impact and create happier, healthier communities to our neighbors in need, both animals and humans alike.