This is an interview I did with Sebastian Guzman, a fellow co worker of mine. He is from Puerto Rico and gave me some insight on the satos that I recently wrote about.
Wild dogs, also known as satos, have been an issue in Puerto Rico for countless years. “The issue is that we have these dogs and no real program that watches over them, not like how we have the humane society over here in the states,” says Sebastian Guzman, an immigrant of Puerto Rico who now resides in Jacksonville, Florida. Guzman uses a popular situation to explain the ever-growing problem of these wild dogs in Puerto Rico. “Sometimes a family’s dog just goes out and gets pregnant, and instead of treating the dog in a humane way and taking care of the puppies, they just dump them on a beach, or sadly enough, over a cliff.”
Guzman says that these dogs “are the most faithful animals you will ever find.” He insists that they just “want some attention. They will follow you around for hours just to have you pet them and give them food.”
“The media will report on the animal abuse issue,” says Guzman, “but only when it is extreme.” He notes a report from about three years ago. “People were throwing dogs over a bridge, some were still alive. This was reported on the news, when they found the dogs, some of them were barely alive, but still alive nonetheless,” says Guzman. “They later found out that the people doing this were part of a government organization. Apparently, the people were suppose to help the dogs in some way, but instead took the easy way out and just dumped them.”
Guzman admits that, sadly, it just isn’t that big of a priority to take care of the dogs in Puerto Rico. He feels that slowly, but surely, this will change. “I just hope that the government enforces better laws that will keep an eye over these animals.” Guzman would like to see those who abuse animals in prison for at least five to ten years. “It is sad that we see it as a lesser crime,” insists Guzman. “The government needs to enforce laws to avoid animal abuse. Even in the United States, people who abuse animals may only get two months in jail, if even that.”
Guzman gives even more reason to take this issue seriously. He insists that, “As studies have shown, most kids that abuse animals as children go on to be criminals.”
“It’s sad that people are not well educated enough to respect these animals as they should be respected,” says Guzman. “Hopefully soon enough people will be helping out these animals instead of abusing them.” In the past several years Guzman has noted the boost of organizations devoted to helping this issue. “I know there are many agencies like Save The Satos and other groups, that are trying to help, and it is getting better.”
According to Guzman, another common animal abuse situation in Puerto Rico is food poisoning. “A lot of people, if they don’t like your pet, they will just poison them.” This happened to Guzman’s family cat and his brother’s dog. “If the animal is causing problems, instead of just talking to the neighbors, they will just leave some poisoned meat on the street; they know the animal will be by that area.” A few months after Guzman’s family’s cat went missing, they found him in a trashcan. Guzman, who once studied veterinary sciences, says it was quiet obvious that it had been poisoned with rat poisoning. “It happens a lot more then you would like to think.”
Overall, Guzman seems very optimistic about the issue of animal abuse in his homeland of Puerto Rico. He says, “In the past, people didn’t really care; now people are starting to realize that it is important to take care of their animals. Hopefully organizations, such as Save The Satos, will get their word out.”
