Sunday, March 29, 2009

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.

Friday, March 20, 2009

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.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

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