Hi,
The Puerto Rican island dogs
forage alone, and sometimes in packs. The sound of dogs rushing through the
brush with rats leaping for their lives in front of mostly mixed breed, Satos,
some with serious grimaces, others clearly enjoying the chase with play face, quickens
the pulse.
A hound mix, I called Owl,
shared my porch for a time. He hunted lizards the way I shop for chocolate.
(Yeah, yeah!) To quote an old Cab Calloway song, everybody eats when they come
to my house. Kibble is served twice daily. Owl still shopped lizards with
enough zeal that the other satos tried little lizards; a couple tossed their
heads and spit it out, but others picked up the habit.
I watched a yearling German
Shepard bitch teach six month old pups, Lucy and Robert Redford, to roll
coconuts down my driveway, so the coconuts would crack open when they hit the
side of my neighbor’s garage; but Blondie taught them to hunt rats, the supreme
delicacy.
In general, dogs’ behavior
varies with the availability of resources. Hungry dogs are volatile around
food, but well fed colonies can be social as dogs in doggie day care, which I
ran for a dozen years.
After years of reading your
thoughts in the dark; why am I posting?
My experiences are written
in my blog, as they happened. I’m writing this to encourage you with the
multiple degrees to come, visit my island before the dog catchers round up the
alphas, the docile, the elders.
Could you picture a holiday
hanging on the beach watching a colony of free ranging dogs rummage in the
brush?
You may be interested in advising me as I develop the protocols for
maintaining dog colonies.
Dog problem: 100,000 to
300,000 free roaming dogs on island size of Connecticut.
Current solution:
Round up to euthanize every
free running dog you see until a numerical limit of what the municipality will
pay is hit.
Rescuers pic up every dog
they can fit in their bac yard. Some are adopted or shipped to the states.
Colony keepers Program:
If trap, neuter, and return programs are to
develop public support, a follow up control, support system should be in place.
As part of the protocols, I
want to identify the dogs that are more valuable to the colony, so they will
escape culls.
If people come to observe
these fascinating animals, the government of this broke ass little island will
co-operate in handling the dogs in a more humane way.
Watching a bunch of males
(dogs) poking around on a walk is my idea of fun. My travel goals include other
places to watch dogs. Moscow to ride the trains with the dogs tops my bucket
list; I’m guessing I’m not alone.
Can you envision
behaviorists visiting colony keepers to enjoy dogs behaving old school except for
the hunger and rampant reproduction. Picture January on a tropical island, hmm;
that’s how I got here. Is this a crazy goal?
The protocol should identify
traits of benefit to the colony. Any suggestions? Questions? I hope I’ve
explained it adequately. Thanks!
Oh, and Terry I’ve read a
number of studies you’ve supplied links for; thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment