Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Carribean Animal Welfare - Another great organization!

Caribbean Animal Welfare is a great organization by the Pegasus foundation. Their website is extremely useful when looking for information on animal abuse related topics. Check it out for yourself. http://www.caribbeananimalwelfare.org/


The three main goals listed on their website are:
1) Provide resources, training and support to animal welfare organizations
2) Facilitate a communications network – especially during disasters
3) Develop support for animal welfare from the tourism industry through the Caribbean Animal Tourism Support project


Their website is easily navigatable. It has information on programs for sterilzation, education, adoption, vaccination, trap/neuter/release, and disaster planning. It’s organizations fund development, public relatins and marketing, animal shelter operations and more. There is also information on animal care and the laws pertaining to animal abuse.

It is evident that they try to make clear their accessibility. There are organizatons in nearly every Caribbean country.

This organization also spreads through the United States and Kenya.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Before/After photos!

Here are some before and after pictures I found through the Save the Satos organization.









As you can tell, these dogs have gotten tremendously healthier thanks to this great organization. Clarita is the second dog shown. She is actually now living in Oxford, Massachusetts and is training to be a therapy dog. This is a great success story!

Reinforcing my purpose


The purpose of this blog is to show the widespread of is of animal abuse in Puerto Rico. Here is another great website I found to show your support to stop animal abuse. The creator of this website is asking everyone in Puerto Rico to write to their local and state government. It is the only way that this will stop. The government is allowing this to happen. Please sign the petition on her website.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/Puerto-Rico-Stop-Animal-Abuse

Youtube Video

Here is a short video I found summarizing the issue of satos in Puerto Rico. I think this video is worthy of putting on my blog because it really puts this problem into perspective.

Numerous interviews are conducted in this video, including an interview with an animal activist and county worker. Another interview is conducted with a local elementary school principal who says the dogs are a harm to the students, pee all over campus, and steal food right out of the hands of the students. This principal has sent countless letters to the mayor, who has yet to respond. I hope that this video gains circulation around the world so people are educated about what is going on.


LAWSUIT: $22.5 Million


A hefty lawsuit, $22.5 million to be exact, has been filed against Animal Control Solutions and city officials in November of 2007. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 16 families whos pets had been taken away from them. According to the report, the deaths show “a cold and depraved heart and has stirred public outrage around the whole world.”

Reports show that local animal rights activist have been complaing about the issue of animal abuse for years, but there was no action taken by the officals.

In researching this topic, I found a very dedicated woman. Deanna Raeke is a dog lover and proud pet owner. She blogs up a storm on dog abuse at www.fortheloveofthedogblog.com.

Interview with Native


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.”

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Wild Dogs, Satos, Strays...


Like many Caribbean countries, Puerto Rico has a problem with stray dogs, known by locals as "satos." One beach in Puerto Rico, nicknamed "Dead Dog Beach" is known for the stray dogs that roam the coast. Often times corpses of dogs are found on this beach as well, from dogs that have died of diseases, starvation, and even gunshots.

Apparently, American tourist have even decided to adopt satos. According to an article on MSNBC, many Americans have flown their new pet back to the states. This has become a problem though, as many times these dogs end up in the already over-crowded animal shelters in the United States. The Humane Society discourages Americans from bringing over satos, and says that Puerto Rico, as well as the other Caribbean countries, need to develop their own programs and shelters to help with this situation.

Save A Sato, is a nonprofit organization "dedicated to easing the suffering of Puerto Rico's homeless and abused animals."


Puerto Rico Facts!

Puerto Rico was claimed by the Spanish in 1493, after Christopher Columbus' second journey to the Americas. The indigenous population was practically eliminated under the 400 year rule of the Spaniards. Puerto Rico officially became a territory of the United States after the Spanish-American war, which lasted nearly 5 months in 1898. In 1917, Puerto Ricans were granted citizenship to the United States. However, the people of Puerto Rico have voted to hold their own internal government.

Puerto Rico is a small area, only slightly larger than 3 times the size of Rhode Island. It is a mountains place, with beautiful sandy beaches on most coasts. As of July 2009, the population was at 3,966,213 people. 76.2% of Puerto Ricans are white with a Spanish origins. And 85% of Puerto Ricans are Roman Catholic.

I found this interesting too. According to the same census put out in the summer of 2009, more women between the ages of 16 and 49 are "fit for military services" compared to men.

You too can find more facts at The World Factbook published by the CIA.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rq.html