Happy is Home

My friend Onayd Lumbao said in his e-mail to me, "Happy is Home". Indeed, Happy was welcomed home last Saturday, June 21st. Happy does not have a yard or a place to run around where he is at right now but he is in good hands with my dearest nephew, Nathaniel 'Toytoy' Montejo. The rescue of Happy from the life of neglect was the collaborative effort of several people near and far. From a caring person, Ronald Papina whom I do not know, who reported to Mona Consunji of Animal Welfare Coalition http://www.animalwelfare.com.ph/ and Mona alerting thru e-mail her network of friends, animal lover groups and individuals.

Michel van der Kleij of Netherlands http://animals.tukcedo.nl/ who cares deeply about the animals in the Philippines is a constant source of encouragement. My dear friend John Martel, who has the kindest heart, an animal lover who has helped with Happy's expenses; Onayd, http://www.dogscoutsphilippines.com/, who writes and published books, animal behaviorist and passionate about animals volunteered his time and expertise to save Happy. Dr. Alice Utlang, a Cebu Vet with her quirky, witty short remarks re-energizes me and always gives me advise.
Happy found a new best friend in Toytoy. Toytoy, a fresh college graduate in Electronics loves animals and was more than glad to rescue Happy from severe neglect. And me, i consider myself very lucky to know these individuals who i share passion and compassion for the neglected, abused and voiceless animals.

I Can Always Count on Him

My brother Milio built the shelter for the animals. He is a man of few words, but boy, can he make something out of nothing. Even with tools, if he need a tool and does not have it, he is creative to get things done.
A couple of days ago with the help of 2 cousins, they built the walkway from the front gate of the property to the gate of the shelter. When it was done, I heard they let loose of some of the dogs so the dogs can have a crack at some fun running back and forth in that 65'x5' walkway. I can't wait to see the pictures. Thank you Manoy Milio. You are right, Nanay will like it and we are all going to feel better knowing Nanay will be walking safely(not stumbling on some stones or stepping on a puddle)on her way to the animal shelter.

Pictured here with his wife Linda, Manoy Milio, as we lovingly call him. Some people call him Emil.

Shelter is done. Here with my dear cousin Joel taking care of the dogs

New Friends - Old Partners

I recently met friends, dear new friends but it seems like I have known these people forever. A couple of them are John & Alice (they are not related), two most wonderful people you ever want to know. Thank you John and Alice for the very interesting conversations and for the love and compassion for animals.

Happy month of May!

We appreciate the fact that Catbalogan City Veterinary Office brought us a couple of pregnant dogs. We are thankful because these dogs will be taken care of properly. Their lives in the streets are tough and fatal for most.
They also brought us dogs that looked like they just had puppies and we wonder where those puppies are. Hope they're okay, still have high hopes for their well being.

Laila, pictured above is still pregnant. She just got adopted and lately looked liked she could have puppies anytime. Laila pictured below with her new mom Marvie, new brother Russell and new grandma Bebing.


Rosalinda, below, with her 3 puppies. She is very good with them. She had 4 pups but one died.

















We don't have names for the puppies yet. They are still very small and sleeping most of the time.

Superstar

My husband & I made our way to Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals last Friday. We went right away to the kennel where Superstar was when we first visited the shelter, but he was gone and another dog took it over. The shelter sure takes good care of the animals. I meant to ask the gentleman at the front desk when we dropped off our donation where Superstar went but he was too busy with some people surrendering their pets. Huh!. It was nice to see the pot bellied pigs. There were a couple of roosters in the pigs' pens. One rooster came charging to the door when he saw us. Hard to say whether he was welcoming us or telling us to go away.

Sweet Charisse

I came across this dog one day running around a side street. I just got done attending mass and when I stepped out of the church, I spotted her in this really terrible condition. People looked at her with disgust. She had mange, hair almost gone from her body and truly pitiful. I was disgusted at people's reactions. Where is the compassion? This dog was miserable and in too much pain, yet, nobody cared.
I went home and changed my clothes and asked my dear cousin, Joel, to go with me to find this dog. We brought with us dog shampoo and dog medicine that we picked up from SALAMAT Animal Shelter. We were lucky to have spotted the dog right away and we asked around who the owner was. The owner was very concerned about the dog. She said that it was really her son's and they are all concerned about her. Medicine for animals in the Philippines is expensive, and when you are poor, it is a choice between food on the table or medicine for a dog. We gave the dog a good bath and put medicine all over her body. We went back 3 days later and she still was not any better. I asked the owner what they were feeding her? They have her loose and is roaming the streets all day long and they don't know what she picks up to eat along the way. I asked the owner if they will give the dog to us so we could take care of her. She agreed, after all, they were just going to lose her in the hills above where they live. They were concerned about the dog but not enough to make sure she got better. I was already back in the U.S. when the dog was finally brought in to SALAMAT Animal Shelter. I was relieved. She would have died a slow painful death in the streets. Below is how she looks now, and is getting better every day. We named her Charisse.

There is Light at the End of the Tunnel

I was in Catbalogan, Samar, Philippines last year October thru November, for about 4 weeks. While there, I met Dr. Cinco, a veterinarian who works for the city and who also cares deeply about the welfare of animals. Dr. Cinco and staff went around baranggays & puroks educating people about the danger of rabies from dog bite, the importance of anti-rabies shots for dogs and responsible pet ownership. Even with his office's tight schedule, he & his staff managed to come to our shelter and vaccinated our dogs against rabies and spay/neuter a few of them.
I had a conversation with Dr. Cinco early this week. This is the first time I spoke with him since I got back from Catbalogan. He mentioned that they have started catching stray dogs and taking them to their pound. After a few days or when the pound is full, they have to euthanise some of them, specially the ones that already look sickly. I got frantic. I think that putting animals to sleep is not an answer to overcrowding. I asked him to bring some of the dogs to SALAMAT Animal Shelter. I requested for the sickly so we can bring them back to health. He continued that there are so many strays, that there is not going to be enough space in both locations. Supposedly, they are to go out every week to catch strays and could round up about 20 dogs each time. That is an overwhelming number of dogs that will end up put to sleep. I asked him why go every week? I can't remember the answer to that question, but I am hoping they don't go every week as planned. A couple of dogs he said have been adopted. I told him that I will get our adoption program going to free up room for dogs that are coming. We would do a thorough screening of adopters so as to avoid the dogs ending up in the hands of those who would slaughter dogs to eat.
A lot of people there are not big on adoption and that is a challenge worth taking on. I believe people will turn around and see what beautiful creatures dogs and cats are.
What was encouraging throughout this conversation with Dr. Cinco is that he is open to suggestions. He is willing to try things, not just slam proposals or ideas. What a breath of fresh air.
I did mention to him about our plan of opening up a sanctuary for the animals in Catbalogan, Samar. He too was excited about it. The sanctuary will open its doors to all of the homeless animals throughout Samar and maybe Leyte. That will be our long term goal. More power to you and your office Dr. Cinco. You're the first who is in a position of power in Catbalogan that ever did something good for our four legged friends. Thank you

Pitbulls & Bully Mixes

This does not happen very often but we were back in Las Vegas so soon. It was my hubby's birthday and he wants to celebrate it there. Off we went.

While there, we visited the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. We brought some things that were listed on their wish list.

I told my 'Mahal', that is what I call him, that we will only visit 'no kill' animal facilities & sanctuaries. It is for my own sanity. I don't think I will be able to take it, visiting animals knowing they will be put to sleep that day or the next.

Most of the dogs that were in NSPCA are pitbulls and pitbull mixes. For some of them, their stories, how they were found and their conditions were heartbreaking. Some people really suck, and they are everywhere. Thank God we have people like the ones at the NSPCA who are dedicated to animal causes and welfare. One of the bully we met was Superstar. It was funny how his tail would wag around in circle instead of side to side. He's very friendly and mild mannered bully. We were hoping he could get adopted soon by a nice person or family. We would have adopted him but we alreay have three pits at home.

NSPCA also rescues cats, pigs, birds and all kinds of other abused, abandoned, needy animals. More power to all the animal rescue centers, facilities and sanctuaries.

Happy New Year!

My husband & I went to Best Friends on January 1st. We drove from Las Vegas in the morning to Kanab, Utah where the sanctuary is and drove back to Las Vegas in the afternoon.

Best Friends is a no kill animal sanctuary. It is a beautiful place, and most importantly, all of the animals are well taken care of. It is a well run organization. I asked the driver who gave us the tour how the sanctuary got started and she said it was started by a group of friends, hence, Best Friends, over 20 years ago.

I was thinking about how we could effectively help the stray animals in Samar, and the idea came to me as we were driving back to Las Vegas.
Group of Friends. I immediately called the lady I met when I was on vacation in Samar last October. She is an animal lover and she came to SALAMAT Animal Shelter to meet me. She immediately became a friend and we talked about the plight of the strays in Samar.

I told her about the idea of asking several friends, animal lovers and other concerned individuals to form an alliance so we can start a sanctuary in Samar. She was the first person I asked, and she enthusiastically agreed. I called another friend in Modesto, California and she too is willing to be in this project.

It was also nice to hear from someone I have not met in person yet but already considered a friend. I e-mailed him and mentioned the sanctuary. He wants to be a part of this endeavor volunteering his expertise as an animal trainer. We need more people.

If you are interested and want more information about the plan of action, please e-mail me at gosamargo@yahoo.com or salamat4animals@gmail.com