Presentation before the Academia Veterinaria Mexicana A.C, of the M.V.Z. Jose Luis Payró Dueñas for his admission as a Full Member.
The word leader is an Anglicism that is applied to the person, company or product that occupies the first place in a political, labor or commercial field and therefore we do not usually perceive leadership in fields of action of a cultural nature or attribute to leaders attributes of generosity.
In 2015, the magazine "Lideres" included Jos Luis Payró among the 300 leaders of Mexico and it is also relevant to point out that the Mexican Institute of Leaders of Excellence distinguished him with the Doctorate Honoris Causa.
For this reason, on the occasion of his joining our academic corporation, I think it is important to highlight the qualities of empathy and generosity that have characterized his leadership in activities outside politics or economic competition such as teaching, strengthening and creating educational institutions. and the promotion of the dissemination and roots of cynology in Mexico.
It is necessary to define the cynological scope of José Luis Payro's inclination for canine zootechnics during half a century of professional career.
It is a broad vision and I would even dare to suggest the epistemological of the animal husbandry of dogs that without neglecting the scientific and technical aspects of canine breeding and well-being, it ventures into the social and cultural manifestations that have given rise to the canophilic associations and groups throughout the world.
The five-volume encyclopedia entitled "El Perro y su Mundo" gives an account of this conviction since it is a splendid exhaustive compilation made by José Luis Payró that contains all the data and concepts that derive from a unique event in the development of humanity that it is the domestication of the dog.
I do not propose this assertion simply for the sake of an apology to the work of José Luis Payró, but I have the sincere conviction that that the domestication of this species is indeed an outstanding event in history that explains the powerful force of attraction of humans for the dog as the favorite among domestic animals.
There is paleontological evidence of the coexistence relationship between the hunter tribes of more than 15 thousand years ago that show the incipient domestication of semi-wild canids that gave alarm signals to their human diners at night and accompanied them in the harassment of the prey in exchange for sharing the hunting loot.
The use of primitive dogs, with a high influence of wolf blood, also arises in prehistoric times in sledding, which is still in force among the original peoples of the Arctic.
As for the historical evidence of this ancient domestication process, it is irrefutable that 4 thousand years ago, breeds of dogs with the appearance of greyhounds and other more robust ones very similar to the Iberian hounds were bred in ancient Egypt.
Currently, the International Cynological Federation, based in Brussels, recognizes hundreds of dog breeds that live with humans and not alongside them like other domestic species.
There is no other example of an animal species that has developed more powerful affective bonds with humans than with its fellow human beings, and neither has it deserved the mention of being man's best friend.
The chairs of Animal Husbandry for Dogs and Cats and Dog Breeds that José Luis Payró has taught continuously at the FMVZ of the
UNAM for many decades, are among the favorite subjects of the students, precisely because they have been able to impregnate this conception of extraordinary evolutionary and historical event that makes them interesting.
His groups are highly sought after as the students perceive him as an expert teacher who unselfishly and simply transmits his vast experience and knowledge and also, with his generous teaching vocation, has complemented and enriched his teachings with the organization, for two decades, of an excellent extra-curricular activity that is the already very prestigious "International Congress of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics in Dogs and Cats and other Pets", dedicated to veterinary medicine and animal husbandry students from all over the country.
Therefore, it is consistent that for 16 years in a row, the FMVZ students have chosen José Luis Payró as their generation sponsor in a sincere affectionate recognition of his quality and generosity in teaching.
Obviously, his teaching quality rests not only on a proven teaching vocation but also on a solid and deep knowledge of the subject of specialty and in this sense the experience of José Luis Payró is overwhelming.
For fifty years he has been a judge of the Mexican Canophilic Federation, for 45 years he was accredited as a judge by the International Cynological Federation and has judged at events in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. He is also a judge accredited by the American Kennel Club and the Canadian Kennel Club.
His erudition also extends to the animal husbandry of cats since he was the founder of the Mexican Association of Domestic Cats and has judged events specialized in this species for 30 years.
It is also worth mentioning the success of the application of his zootechnical knowledge, in the field of practice, because José Luis Payró is an outstanding breeder of the German Shepherd, Dobermann, Rottweiler, Great Dane and Afghan breeds.
This cynological mastery is well known and appreciated by colleagues, students, breeders and enthusiasts of the canophy activity in Mexico and internationally, but I reiterate that the most outstanding humanistic quality of José Luis Payró is his unwavering will to unambiguously pour out all this vast experience in veterinary education.
His peers have been explicit in recognizing this valuable contribution and therefore the Department of Medicine, Surgery and Small Species zootechnics of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics of the UNAM, awarded José Luis Payró in 2014, the Academic Merit education.
Award, precisely in recognition of his contributions to veterinary In the academic careers of many professors, the construction of the curriculum has become the main motivation of their institutional life, however, for Jose Luis Payró, this has not been the driving force behind their trajectory, but the creation of the institutions themselves.
An evidence of this purpose is the foundation in 2010 of the Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics career at the Universidad del Valle de México in which he served as its first national director, but certainly that the culmination of this desire is the realization of his dream. to create a career of Veterinary Doctor and Animal Husbandry in Dogs and Cats that has opened in Mexico a splendid and specific option for those young people who have the aspiration to exercise this professional activity with excellence.
This project was conceived with passion and in it José Luis Payró has achieved the materialization of cutting-edge teaching models that support a very high-level theoretical-practical learning.
In the field of canphy activity, I have always enjoyed attending the competitions and exhibitions of the Mexican Canophila Federation and in them verify the progressive growth and consolidation of this corporation under the presidency of José Luis Payró who has managed to print a national and international. The expansion of the Federation has been the impetus for the strengthening of Mexican breeders and the excellent specimens achieved by the national breeding, from the grim elegance and solemnity of the Chow-Chow to the cheerful presence and vitality of the Australian Shepherd.
It is not by chance that the president of the Mexican Federation is also the president of the Americas and Caribbean Section of the International Cynological Federation in which 90 countries are represented.
It is in this canophilic world, where another parallel biography of Jose Luis Payró opens, characterized by his long-term effort to spread and consolidate the canophilic culture in Mexican society.
Many of us have fond memories of the television program "Mi Mascota" hosted by José Luis Payró for four years.
In it, we had the opportunity to meet breeds of dogs and cats that we had only heard about.
Likewise, its initiative to include the Sunday section "Megapet" in the newspaper El Universal, allowed society to learn about the multiple facets of canine assistance in rescue, guide the blind, detection of prohibited substances and above all, the great incentive and vital force that prints the company of dogs in the sensitive development of childhood and in combating depression and loneliness of the elderly.
For the most assiduous fans and for the continuing education of dog owners and breeders, Jos Luis Payro proposed the edition of the magazines "Perros Pura Sangre", "El Pastor Alemán en Mexico" and even in the professional field "Actualidades en Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia México".
Another valuable initiative for union improvement has been the organization for 8 years of the International Congress of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics of the Mexican Canophilic Federation and the International Cynological Federation supported by CONCYT.
Undoubtedly, an iconic event that has contributed enormously to the consolidation, growth and diffusion of canophilia in Mexico has been EXPOCAN at the World Trade Center in Mexico City, a great annual event for three decades.
To close this sketch, it is essential to point out the contributions of José Luis Payro on a current issue that has resulted in one of the professional paradigms of veterinary medicine due to its ethical value.
I refer to animal welfare as the duty of humanity towards animals in reciprocity to the multiple benefits it has received from them in social, economic and cultural development.
Those of us who have practiced the profession for many decades have seen the evolution in the decrease of pathologies that reduced the quality and duration of life of dogs and cats, for example, rickets and osteomalacia were very frequent in puppies due to the mineral imbalances in the rations and also, before reaching the decade of life, many dogs suffered from endocardiosis derived from excess salt in their diet, dying prematurely from heart failure.
For five years, José Luis Payro carried out an intense dissemination campaign for the use of balanced food at the national level that has had an evident impact on the reduction of nutritional diseases in dogs and cats.
His concern for animal welfare also led him to found in 2015, within the framework of the Federación Canófila Mexicana, the Mexican Association of Canine Registration and Welfare to promote in Mexico the task of the Scientific and Standards Commission of the International Cynological Federation, in which he is one of the members, who seeks the eradication of hereditary diseases that have been devastating for various breeds of dogs.
I have been very pleased to write these lines in which I have tried to give a notion of the volcanic energy of the dear colleague and friend
José Luis Payro Dueñas, vital energy that has allowed him to carry out several transcendent tasks simultaneously with altruism and generosity, as if he were the product of the dynamism of three people but that, even so, surely we will have enough emotional fuel to yield valuable fruits to the Mexican Veterinary Academy to which it enters today.
Leopoldo Paasch Martínez
Academic Emeritus
Mexico City, May 11, 2021
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