One month turned to two and a dream became a reality………
I arrived in PR mid-March to search for land for Pets Alive Puerto Rico and received an exciting phone call from my good friend, fellow rescuer and all around angel, Iris. The First Lady of Puerto Rico had heard about my rescue work over here from Iris’s husband, who works directly with the Governor of Puerto Rico. I was invited for an audience at her office to discuss plans for Pets Alive Puerto Rico. After running out and buying a frock (I didn’t pack anything apart from shorts and t-shirts – good dog rescuing gear!) I went to La Fortaleza, The Governor of Puerto Rico’s Mansion.
We had a great meeting and came away not only with the support of the Office of the First Lady but the Governor’s office too! It was more than we could have hoped for and a fantastic start to my trip. They were even offering to help us with land!
We still had 12 dogs in the office of the Pets Alive Puerto Rico Vet, Dr Aguirre and I was very keen to get them moved as soon as possible. Some of our dogs had been there since September undergoing treatment. One such darling is Champ who I rescued from Dead Dog Beach in Mid September. He was a teeny tiny little thing who was clinging to life by a thread. He screamed when I picked him up – his little body was ravaged by malnutrition, mange and parasites.
This picture is Champ on the day of his rescue. Champ needed a lot of work. Not only was he starving but he was very frightened too. Over the course of the next few months I rescued many more like Champ as we cleared up Dead Dog Beach. Dancer, Prancer, Donner and Vixen; 4 adorable siblings, Bella, Tito, Remco, Sunny, Ash, Angelito and Sarni.
We had rescued a litter of puppies off Dead Dog Beach in November that unfortunately had distemper. Sadly, none of them made it and the infection spread to the other dogs we had in the vet’s office. Our amazing vet, Dr Aguirre worked incredibly hard to save our dogs and we did lose some and that was beyond heartbreaking.
Twelve dogs survived and have been undergoing intense treatment since November. They all look beautiful – the picture of health but they cannot at this time travel to Pets Alive. So we desperately needed a place for them. We were incredibly lucky that the wonderful Iris stepped up and agreed to foster all 12 of our dogs! So we spent Easter weekend building a series of runs at her house so we could move everyone there. It was back breaking work in 85’ heat but so, so worth it.
The dogs were so happy to out in the fresh air and to be able to run and play freely. The joy on their faces was just the greatest gift that I could have received and a lot of tears were shed as I watched them all having so much fun.
We shipped 5 dogs to Pets Alive; Jumpy, Oreo, Luke, Gordon and Sparky. All saved from Dead Dog Beach on New Year’s Day. Gordon, Jumpy and Oreo have already found their forever homes!
I started viewing land and we are incredibly excited about a plot in Rio Grande on the East Coast of PR. Kerry flew out to see the site and she is beyond excited! We still have some land surveys and negotiations to complete but Pets Alive Puerto Rico is fast becoming a reality!
Kerry and I rescued a dog from the car park of Walgreen’s whilst we were buying food to feed other dogs (the irony!) and we named him Scruffy. He is undergoing treatment with Dr Aguirre and he will travel just as soon as he is healthy enough. I found a teeny tiny chocolate pup at a gas station in Yabucoa and named her Cadbury. Kerry escorted Cadbury home (or maybe it was the other way round?) and she was adopted this week.
I had a particularly heartbreaking episode whilst in PR. I received a call from Sandra, our wonderful volunteer who had been called about a Mummy and puppies at a school. They were not safe there and so we ventured out on a Saturday morning to rescue them. We found the puppies immediately but no sign of Mum. It turns out she had ventured down the road to find food and was taking a nap under the bleachers on the baseball field. I named her Goldie and she was a beautiful dog – very obviously someone’s pet that had been thrown away when she became pregnant. Only about 12 months old herself she was an incredible mother to her 8 babies. We took Goldie and her pups to another rescue group who had agreed to help us with her care. About a week later Goldie began to show signs of distemper. We wound up losing her and her babies who were also distemper positive. I only knew her for a week but this dog made a profound impact on me. An angel who sat in front of me wagging her tail and kissing away my tears. Goldie has made me even more determined to make permanent change for the dogs of Puerto Rico.
If you would like to watch a video slideshow I made of my recent trip to PR please take a look at this (Goldie is the dog at the end):
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1AcuG7Rs2YtHHQ
We are Pets Alive Puerto Rico – get ready to watch us roar.