TAKING ACTION

Thomas Nero, DVM of Cat Clinic in Danbury with Morgan the Pirate Cat.

Although Save-a-Sato seldom sends cats to the states because they are plentiful there, too, Morgan was given a second chance because he had diabetes and cataracts, and needed special treatment.
 
Donna and her husband, Erich have a menagerie of other animals, including rescued cats, dogs, squirrels, guinea pigs, rats and prairie dogs, but they found room for one more.
 
“He deserves the best life after all he’s been through,” said Donna, who serves as a liaison between Save A Sato and the Danbury Animal Welfare Society. DAWS had already rescued 30 Puerto Rican street dogs.
Donna made pet beds, for dogs, cats, ferrets and other small animals, to raise money to pay for Morgan's surgery. She also established "Morgan's Fund," for tax-deductible donations.
 
Thomas Nero, DVM of Cat Clinic in Danbury regulated the cat’s insulin and saved his life. Morgan visited an eye doctor in New York and was referred to Cornell University Hospital for Animals at the College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, N.Y., for the surgery.
 To contact Donna Lenz about the custom dog, cat and ferret beds, also hammocks and critter cozies, e-mail her at gypsy1sato@sbcglobal.net. Donations to "Morgan's Fund" can be mailed to her at:
Morgan's Fund
218 Old Hawleyville Road
Bethel
CT 06801   
 
The beds cost $25 for a dog and from $12-$15 for cats.

Picking a furever home for a rescued animal
 

Dogs like Flora, rescued from Dead Dog Beach in Yabucoa, need to feel safe when they find a permanent home

If you have become involved, even in the smallest way, with pet rescue, the time will come when you must pick a new home for the animal you have saved and sheltered for a month or two. While you might feel guilty at relinquishing the animal you have bonded with, it will be easier if you know he or she has gone to a good home. The following are some questions to ask a potential adopter:

1- Do you or your spouse work? How much time will you have to play with, feed and care for your pet? Will the pet be home all day alone?
 
2- How many members of your family will be involved with the pet? What are the ages of the children?
 
3- Do you live in an apartment or house?
 
4- Do you have permission to have a pet where you live?
 
5- Do you have a fenced in yard?
 
6- What pets do you currently have?
 

Hunter and Hayden, a boy and a girl named after the constellations, were sent to Florida for someone's Valentine through Save-a-Sato. Their mother was killed by a car when they were only a week old and they were lovingly nursed by volunteers. I was the last in the chain and kissed them goodbye at the airport

7- What pets have you had in the past 5 years? What happened to them?
 
8- Do you have a veterinarian? If so, what's the vet's name and telephone number?
 
9- Why are you interested in this pet?
 
10- Does anyone have allergies to the pet?
 
11- Would this be an indoor or outdoor pet?
 
12- What will you do with your pet if you're gone on vacation?
 
13- What sorts of activities would you do with your pet?
 
14- Do you understand that it takes time to train, groom and care for a pet?
 
15- If you are unable to care for this pet in the future, who would care for him/her?
 
16- Please provide at least two references (family, friend, etc); name and telephone number
 
17- Would you be willing to let me visit your home before the adoption?

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ER for our best friends
 

Charmin' rescued at Dead Dog Beach is soft to the touch

If an animal gets sick in the middle of the night, or is involved in an accident, it’s nice to know there is somewhere to go. Emergency vets are more expensive, but when a pet’s life hangs in the balance, there are few options. Here is a list of 24-hour veterinarians or emergency clinics open seven days a week, including holidays: Keep it handy.
 
* Hospital Veterinario Condado, 73 Condado Ave. Santurce; Tel:  (787) 724-9333.
 
* Animal Emergency Clinic, 387 Domenech Ave., Hato Rey; Tel: (787) 765-1120
 
* Veterinaria 24/7, 270 Jesús T. Piñeiro Ave. Río Piedras; Tel: (787) 751-3737
 
* Clínica Veterinaria José Díaz Umpierre,  Highway 177, Km. 4.3, Lomas Verdes, Río Piedras  Tel: (787) 763-2584, (787) 767-5406
  
These doctors have special hours for clients:
 
* Dr. Luis Antonio Rivera at 1582 Cavalieri in Urb. Belisa, Río Piedras, (787) 759-7441 is usually open until 8 or 9 every day except Sunday. Call first.
 
Dr. is open until 8:30 p.m. on weekdays
 
* Clinica Veterinaria Paraná, (787) 751-0013, (787) 758-2706, at 1707 Paraná St.,  Rio Piedras Heights has emergency privileges for its clients, but try them anyway.
 
Clínica Veterinaria Jorge Díaz Umpierre, Comerío Avenue, near Río Hondo Mall, Bayamón, Tel: (787) 786-4760 or (787) 780-5583, is open until 9 p.m. on weekdays.

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Everything you need to know about rabies
And were afraid to ask

By Peggy Ann Bliss
 

Dr. José Marcos Vega gives a rabies shot as Save-a-Sato members Doris Vita, l, and Margarita Benítez give a helping hand

The Puerto Rico Health Department spent $858,000 last year on painful rabies shots for 607 people who were bitten by an animal who was never identified.
 
So said Dr. Carlos Carazo, head of the veterinary division of the Health Department, in an interview with Pure Bliss. Because rabies is always fatal once the symptoms appear, anyone with a bite from a possibly rabid animal should get the six-shot series immediately, said Carazo. The post-exposure shots cost about $2,000 per case, he said.
 
One in four teaching samples of dogs has tested positive for rabies, which is endemic to Puerto Rico, according to Carazo, who said the disease is caused by the small Indian mongoose. The animal was imported from Jamaica many years ago to exterminate the rat population, but the two species never met, because mongooses are diurnal and rats are nocturnal.
 
Meanwhile, the small reclusive mongoose has enjoyed his new environment and multiplied. However, they are seldom seen unless they are in a rabid state, when they apparently do not fear humans, Carazo said.
 
Few cases of rabies in humans have been reported in Puerto Rico, and the last two cases were both from bites by stray dogs.  In both cases, Carazo said, the Health Department protocol had not been followed, i.e. giving post-exposure shots immediately and isolating the dog. If a dog who has bitten a person shows any change in behavior in 10 days, he must be sacrificed and his brain analyzed, said Carazo.
 
Tests proved that one dog had contracted the disease from a mongoose, confirming the mongoose-dog/cat-human cycle. Rats and rabbits can not infect humans with rabies.
 
“However, because we cannot be sure when a child is bitten by a small animal if it was a rat or a mongoose, we have to give them the shots” he said.
 
No longer given in the stomach, but in the arm, the anti-rabies shots are nevertheless unpleasant.  Because it is dangerous to give a live rabies vaccine, which could kill the person, five dead vaccines are given according to a strict protocol followed by a gamma globulin shot to boost the immune system.
 
Puerto Rico law requires that any health professional who treats an animal bite must report it to the Health Department within 24 hours.
 
Rabies was in the news this past summer, once with the bats in a Girl Scout camp, in which hundreds of little girls were possibly exposed to the disease, and again in Yunnan province in China, where 500,000 dogs, pets and strays, were slaughtered when officials discovered three cases of human rabies.
 
In China, only 3 percent of the dogs are vaccinated against rabies. In Puerto Rico, the percentage is much higher, but it is still not required that dogs and cats get the shot.
 
“It should be mandatory to protect humans,” said Carazo.

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If you happen to notice a neighbor’s dog who is tied up for hours, in the hot sun, rain and wind, there is something you can do.
 
Read Law 67 on these pages and then write them a letter similar to the one below. You may deliver it in person or by mail. If you prefer not to get involved, ask for help and orientation. Maybe the owner doesn’t even realize that what he is doing is bad for his dog and probable illegal. Maybe just by talking to him, you can change his way of thinking.

Attention, Resident
We have been advised that there is a possible case of abuse against a dog tied  up and without protection against the weather. If this is the case, we wish to give the persons involved an opportunity to remedy the situation in the next seven (7) days.
 
We recommend that anyone who cannot or will not keep an animal in humane conditions and treat it in a kind and civilized manner give it to someone else, to us or to the nearest animal shelter.
 
According to Law 67, (Animal Protection Law) of May 1973, and amended by Law 439, the killing of an animal or the intention to cause it serious bodily harm is a fourth degree felony If found guilty the person may be committed to jail for a period of no less than six months and no more than tour years. Animal abandonment is also in violation of this law.
 
Our primary interest is to correct the illegal situation as soon as possible. If this is not done, the organization Amigos de Los Animales, Inc. Fundación Valentina, and others may report the offender to the Puerto Rico Police for investigation and further action to remove the dogs, cats or any abused animal and take legal action. For more information, call Amigos de Los Animales at 787-313-5653/787-810-2590/787-209-2682

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Atención, Residente
Hemos recibido aviso de que en su vecindad existe un posible caso de maltrato contra uno perro amarrado sin protección de las inclemencias del tiempo. De ser esto así, deseamos llamarle la atención al residente o residentes para que tomen las medidas necesarias para remediar las situaciones dentro de los próximos siete (7) días.
 
Cualquier persona que no pueda o no desee mantener a un animal en condiciones humanitarias y tratarlos de forma bondadosa y civilizada, le recomendamos que lo entregue a otra persona, a nosotros, o al refugio de animales más cercano.
 
Para el conocimiento de todos los vecinos, existe la Ley 67 (Ley para la Protección de Animales) de mayo del 1973, enmendada (Ley 439), la cuál tipifica como delito grave de cuarto grado el matar un animal o la intención de causarle un grave daño corporal a uno. De ser convicto puede ser condenado a una pena de cárcel por un período no menor de seis meses ni mayor de 4 años. El abandono de animales también es una violación a esta ley.
 
Nuestro interés primordial es corregir la situación ilegal lo antes posible. De no hacerlo la organizacion Amigos De Los Animales, Inc puede recurrir directamente a la Policía de Puerto Rico para investigar y tomar las medidas necesarias para remover perros, gatos o cualquier animal abusado y tomar acción legal. Para información adicional favor de comunicarse con Amigos De Los Animales al 787-313-5653/787-810-2590/787-209-2682