Thursday, February 25, 2010
Dead Dogs
Every day I normally see about 10 to 20 dead dogs on the side of the road in varying states of decomposition. Today I witnessed one getting killed. It made me sick to my stomach to see. Dogs are not wild animals. They must be taken care of and controlled. It is inhumane how dogs are treated here. When we mention to people here that we spay and neuter our animals we get funny looks or comments like your emasculating the poor boy. How long is it going to take to get this attitude changed? We also hear story after story about how a dog was poisoned and killed. Please spay and neuter your pets.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I can't even imagine watching a dog or cat being killed, I honestly would not know what I would do, I only hope that God works through me and allow me to do what is right. You never know...but I did get my beautiful boy Kasper neutered today!
Jeff and Katrina,
Most rational people in the island understand that dogs and cats should be spayed and neutered. I cannot think of anybody in my family that still lives there that have not done so already with their pets. I have always felt that the government or some advocacy organization should initiate a strong campaign in the island to raise awareness. The feral animals in the island are usually fed by people or survive eating anything they can find. Also, the warm climate all year round facilitate their survival. Here in mainland the feral animals are usually captured and adoption by the general population is encouraged or they put them to sleep in a humane way.
People in PR usually are just joking when you talk to them about getting your pet fixed because you are preventing the animals from having sex. It is a silly joke and they don't mean any harm by it. If you force them to re-think their position, they will understand the benefits of controlling the feral animal population.
The other issue is more troubling. As a kid I remember loosing several pets because they were poisoned. People don't realize that animal cruelty usually translate to people treating each other in unkind ways. I am sorry you have been so negatively impressed by this issue in the island. All societies have positives and negatives--perhaps this is one aspect that can be improved through education and awareness.
Take care,
H Jr.
It's a lot better than in many other Latin American countries. Or some Eastern European even. It is a rural mentality of animals living in the open.
It's like the generalized mentality throwing trash left and right :(
(Probably because back in the 1800's most trash was biodegradable and it got passed from grand pa to dad to children on the plastic era)
There is a small team in San Juan doing Neuter and Release. Sadly people in the island keep, even their own pets, too close to the roads and the way people drive...!
Neuter and release will work on dogs, cats may change their behavior and may not be able to hunt for food :(
Here is a good article about "Sociedad Protectora de Animales" and a program to offer a foster home to rescued animals. It is found in today's El Nuevo Dia:
http://www.elnuevodia.com/conlaspuertasabiertas-678332.html
There are people who actually care about this issue and try to do something about it though they might be the minority. Its still a large problem. At the bottom of the page they say that the rescue place in Guaynabo can maintain up to 80 animals, but they receive about 100 rescued animals a day!
Best always,
H Jr.
Hopefully things will get better in PR. There are several organizations helping animals, one of them is Save A Sato, you can check there website on www.saveasato.org. You can also help them by voting for there shelter and they can win up to $10,000. Check out the website and please vote for them.
Lori
Post a Comment