Amigos de Animales San Miguel de Allende
About Us
Mission
The mission of Amigos de Animales is to help curb the overpopulation of companion animals in San Miguel de Allende through no cost sterilizations, thereby helping to eliminate the fear, pain, suffering and misery of homeless animals in San Miguel de Allende and the outlying areas.
Philosophy
Amigos de Animales recognizes the value of animals and is committed to serve them because they lack the ability to speak for or defend themselves in the face of abuse, abandonment and neglect.
Operation
We are a registered non-profit AC (Association Civil) in Mexico and are a sister organization to Amigos de Animales USA, a not for profit 501c3 entity. We exist to as a service to the Mexican community and offer no cost sterilizations both in the Centro area of San Miguel de Allende and in aproximately 50 communities outside of San Miguel De Allende.
Management
Amigos de Animales is an all-volunteer organization with a board of directors consisting of 4 officers and up to 6 board members elected annually.
- President: Claudia Chavarria
- Vice President: Marian Ruiz
- Treasurer: Michael Friedman
- Secretary: Jayne Halle
- Susan Uhl
- Helen Dickson
- Kathi Hamblet
Amigos de Animales is also fortunate to have a group of dedicated Honorary Advisory Board Members who together with their vast experience in the welfare of animals provide invaluable advice as to the operation of containing the overpopulation of cats and dogs.
Current Advisory Board Members:
- Nancy Sylvor
- Teresa Shepro
- Robert Sylvor
Amigos de Animales San Miguel de Allende is a registered non-profit AC (Association Civil) in Mexico and is a sister organization to Amigos de Animales USA, which is a not for profit and has 501c3 status from the IRS and allows American donors to deduct their contributions here from their US taxes. We rely totally on the generosity of donors to operate our free clinics as we do not receive any monetary support from the government. Amigos maintains financial transparency through monthly reviews by a certified public accountant as well as a yearly audit by a separate official auditor.
We will always be grateful to Arno K. Naumann, our Founder and President Emeritus.
Arno K. Naumann, our founder, incorporated Amigos de Animales in October 2001 as a fully registered not-for-profit organization in Mexico and started regular operations in February, 2002. As an avid animal lover and resident of San Miguel de Allende he was struck by the multitude of animals roaming the streets, at the mercy of the traffic, the elements and of course human abuse. Arno set out to try and find a solution and joined the board of a crowded local Animal Shelter which led him to the conclusion that the ultimate solution to the plight of animals wandering the streets was sterilization. After many highly successful years of running Amigos de Animales, Arno retired as President in 2014 and soon after incorporated Association Arkana A.C. the shelter on his ranch which grew over the years housing homeless dogs & donkeys. Through his vision, determination and dedication, to date more than 30,000 cats and dogs have been sterilized in our 21 years of operation. Arno passed away on October 20, 2021.
In addition to sterilizations, Amigos de Animales has been instrumental in effecting significant changes for the welfare of domestic animals in communities. Most importantly in 2002, an agreement was prepared by and presented from Amigos de Animales and signed by the local Municipality establishing that the only method allowed to euthanize animals captured by Ecologia or by any other means is to be by lethal injection, preceded by total anesthesia. This replaced the inhumane method of electrocution which was used in the past.
Our board of directors takes its inspiration from Arno and will continue to advocate for our mission. Our gratitude to Arno for his work for the animals of San Miguel de Allende will always remain.