TEMPORARY TOWERS (TORRES) BUILT ON THE MALECÓN FOR THE 17TH INTERNATIONAL FIREWORKS SYMPOSIUM

 

TOROS Y TORRES EN EL MALECÓN

BULLS ON THE MALECÓN- Eight life-size, aluminum and paper-covered bulls announced the arrival of the 17th International Symposium of Fireworks May 6-10.  The last one held in Vallarta was ten years ago, when towers were built at the stadium for launching the extraordinary "luces artificiales."

MALECÓN           Photo credit: Nancy Chapman

My favorite bull was the glittering one with no bandarillas piercing
its body.  Bullfighting is not a sport.  The costumes,  music and pageantry are wonderful, but this  "competition" is not a fair one and is extreme cruelty to animals.
    Wednesday, May 8th at 2 pm was the only daylight display of fireworks.  Low towers built next to the bulls were used to set off very loud bangs and hisses of oversize firecrackers on spinning wheels of different sizes.  Onlookers were enveloped in clouds of rainbow-colored sulphur in the closed-off street next to the malecón.

All other firework displays were set off at about 9:30 at night from three very high, temporary towers on the malecón and several tethered barges in the bay facing the malecón.  The shows lasted approximately thirty minutes each night and were spectacularly beautiful.  Accompanied by booms, squeals, crackles,  sizzles and fizzles,  the sky dazzled and glittered with otherworldly meteors, comets, asteroids, falling stars and shooting stars.  Above this brilliant display was a slender white crescent moon surrounded by unseen stars.

Alas, fireworks are pollutants, leaving behind smoke, metal particles, and harmful chemicals  and toxins, some of which never decompose or disintegrate.  In Sydney, Australia, fireworks are 100% carbon neutral, and in parts of Europe, there are "quiet" fireworks, to prevent livestock and pets from being terrorized.

 

BARCAZAS EN LA BAHÍA FRENTE DEL MALECÓN     photo credit:  Nancy Chapman

 

IGLESIA DE LA LUZ DEL MUNDO ATRÁS DE LA CLÍNICA EN MEZCALES

MEZCALES - Driving north 40 minutes on highway 200 and before reaching the upscale beach town of Bucerias, is the small, inland town of Mezcales in the state of nearby Nayarit.   The clinic took place in a small, unoccupied one-story cement house across the street from the very tall and imposing Pentecostal Iglesia de la Luz del Mundo.  There is a matching one in Puerto Vallarta off the libramiento, aka tunnel road.  Both are very visible landmarks in the area of Banderas Bay.

As in most Mexican towns and neighborhoods, there is poverty in Mezcales.  A colorfully dressed woman wearing a pink bandana and pink athletic shoes brought in her two medium-size dogs.  The female, whose long, withered teats were evidence of litters of puppies,  was in heat.  When I asked the owner how many litters the dog had had, she shook her head,  threw her arms up in the air and exclaimed "at least five."  I watched the two dogs follow her home to the tin shack next to the freeway.

ELEGIENDO COLLARES PARA SUS PERROS QUE ANDAN SUELTOS EN LA CALLE.  LA HEMBRA HABIA TENIDO MÁS QUE 5 CAMADAS Y ESTABA EN CELO.  MEZCALES.  CHOOSING COLLARS FOR HER DOGS THAT RUN LOOSE ON THE STREET.  THE FEMALE WAS IN HEAT.

STERILIZATIONS AT CLINIC- MEZCALES, NAYARIT- 
MAY 8-11: 
 

SACANDO CUERDAS Y PONIENDO COLLARES Y CORREAS DONADOS  EN SUS PERROS RESCATADOS. REMOVING ROPE "LEASHES" AND PUTTING DONATED COLLARS AND LEASHES ON THEIR RESCUE DOGS. MEZCALES

Female dogs - 46;
Male dogs- 21;
Female cats - 26 ;
Male cats - 20 
TOTAL:  113 67% (77 cats and dogs) of the clinic in Mezcales was made possible by the generous matching gift of $3,000 USD made in December by Juanito Osuna.  Combined with 128 animals sterilized in Pitillal the week before, Juanito´s donation resulted in the sterilization of 174 cats and dogs.  

DONATIONS AT CLINIC IN MEZCALES:  1,120 pesos

DONATIONS AT CLINIC IN PITILLAL May 2-4: 1,100 pesos

DONATIONS TO PEACEANIMALS:  None recorded this past week.  Amy Welch, treasurer, is on an extended vacation with very little access to internet.  

GATITO JDE 8 SEMANAS ESPERANDO SU CIRUGÍA - MEZCALES 8-WEEK OLD KITTEN NAPPING BEFORE SURGERY