Avoiding euthanasia is the motto of organizations like Car-can, an alternative medicine center in the Mexican capital that on this World Love Your Pet Day raises its voice so that animals have a second chance and improve their quality of life.
Car-can, which will be 20 years old in 2023, is a pioneering rehabilitation center in the design and creation of alternative therapies, wheelchairs, prostheses and personalized splints for each pet.
The founder and director of Car-can, Javier Herrera, told EFE in an interview that he started this special clinic due to the need to avoid euthanasia in dogs and cats, which arrived at the veterinary office with an unfavorable diagnosis due to disability.
“We are going to celebrate 20 years. We are pioneers in Mexico in making wheelchairs and we do what any little animal that is in a condition of disability requires ”, he assured.
Pets in 7 out of 10 homes
Almost 7 out of 10 Mexican households have a pet, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).
In a country of 126 million inhabitants, the institute documents 80 million pets, of which 43.8 million are dogs, 16.2 million cats and 20 million are other species.
In this context, Herrera also disagreed with options such as buying and selling pets to replace those that die.
Thus, Herrera, who is a veterinarian, turned his house in the Xochimilco mayor’s office, in the south of Mexico City, into a clinic and rehabilitation center for pets, where felines and canines receive therapies with different approaches such as hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, acupuncture, contrasts, among others.
The founder of Car-can advanced in research and design of prototypes that have his personalized seal.
It has even manufactured a device for a parrot that no longer had mobility in both legs, in addition to many dogs and cats, which are the largest population that come to this center.
“We even think that they (pets) are the ones who give us a second chance because it is to improve the quality of life in all cases, which are totally different, be they dogs, cats, we have even cared for ducks, opossums, a parrot,” he said.
growing pet care
The pet sector in Mexico represents a value of 2,400 million dollars, the 12th place worldwide and the second in Latin America, according to the consultancy Euromonitor.
The e-commerce pet care business grew nearly 800% from 2015 to 2020, according to the same agency.
This is reflected in the growth of Car-can, which began with the impulse of Herrera.
Later his wife and daughter joined, who currently manages the place, and currently has a formal staff of 17 workers.
They all show a great vocation towards all the care that pets with disabilities require.
“It’s a beautiful job, that’s how the house, which was where we used to live, we turned into offices and everything is dedicated to them and it’s nice for me because it also provides a job, salary and also training,” said Herrera.
Car-can has also been modernizing, so it has a service via WhatsApp and networks such as Facebook and Instagram, which also offer and schedule other more common services such as veterinary consultations, vaccinations, sterilization, dog boarding and other more unusual ones. such as x-rays, canine spa and sale of accessories.
