El Salvador shuts down its Bitcoin-funded pet hospital

Nayib Bukele, the President of El Salvador, said this Saturday that the country’s only pet hospital will close. The hospital was created with surplus funds from the country’s Bitcoin trust.

The Chivo Pets hospital is being shut down after a case of negligence. The dogs were mistreated and abandoned in a shelter run by the San Salvador municipality. 

Nayib Bukele posted the news on his Facebook page

Chivo Pets page shared a statement on Facebook saying, “After three years of dedication and commitment, it is time to say goodbye. Starting at 12:00 A.M., Chivo Pets will close its doors, but the love, dedication, and stories we shared together will remain forever.” Bukele shared Chivo Pets’ post on his Facebook page and wrote, “Thank you for everything.”

The president also announced the closure of the state Animal Welfare Institute and Polipet, a police service for protecting pets, due to the same reasons of negligence. Bukele said, “…it is evident that neither the Institute of Animal Welfare (IBA) nor Polipet took the necessary actions to avoid this problem. Consequently, I have taken the decision to close both institutions and proceed with the dismissal of all its officials and staff.”

The leader made this decision after reading more than 8,000 messages on social media. In these messages, people complained about how dogs in a shelter run by the East San Salvador municipality were being treated badly and left alone.

This animal hospital was built with a portion of the approximately $4 million that was registered as surplus from the country’s Bitcoin adoption trust fund. When Nayib Bukele opened Chivo Pets, he claimed that the hospital would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Also, the hospital would take care of 200 animals for a negligible fee of $0.25 per day, thanks to the Bitcoin trust earnings. 

El Salvador has a long list of failed Bitcoin projects. Bukele’s failed Bitcoin projects include Bitcoin City, NFT Casino, Chivo Wallet, Volcano Bonds, LaGeo crypto mining operation, and now Chivo Pets.

El Salvador buys Bitcoin while taking an IMF loan

El Salvador began acquiring 1 Bitcoin daily in 2022 after President Nayib Bukele said on X, “We are buying one #Bitcoin every day starting tomorrow.” The Central American country continued purchasing Bitcoin in the past 2 to 3 years. 

In December 2024, El Salvador made a deal with the IMF for a $1.4 billion loan. As part of that deal, the government of El Salvador agreed to stop using Bitcoin as legal tender in the country and reduce the public sector’s involvement with Bitcoin.

In January 2025, El Salvador’s Congress updated its Bitcoin laws to align with the terms of the IMF loan agreement. Lawmakers voted to repeal the previous version of the law with a vote of 55 to 2. Even after the change, the government kept buying Bitcoin. On February 1st, they bought two BTC in one day, and since then, they have been buying more every day.

The IMF asked El Salvador to stop buying Bitcoin. On March 3rd, the IMF said that El Salvador cannot borrow money or sell debt or digital tokens tied to Bitcoin. President Nayib Bukele responded to the IMF’s pressure by saying that El Salvador will continue buying Bitcoin and described the IMF’s continued pressure as “whining.”

Since March 1st, El Salvador has obtained 13 bitcoins, despite the IMF’s urging of its public sector to refrain from accumulating digital assets. The country has a total of more than 6,105 bitcoins in its treasury, according to the El Salvador Bitcoin Office website. These bitcoins are worth more than $511 million at the time of writing. 

On a positive note, El Salvador is turning into a new crypto haven. Several major crypto firms have announced their intention to move to El Salvador due to the country’s pro-Bitcoin stance. On January 7th, Bitfinex Derivatives said that they were moving from Seychelles to El Salvador. Stablecoin issuer Tether did the same on January 13th by announcing it was moving its headquarters to El Salvador.

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