A Proposal for Trap, Neuter, and Release Colonies

Trap, Neuter, and Release Dog Colonies

Site location must be conducive to keeping the colony dogs out of harm’s way. A number one priority in siting a dog colony is a location which will not become a public health hazard.

Community support: Owners of the property on which the colony is located and adjacent neighbors should be contacted and support sought prior to founding any new colonies.

Collect and share contact information, notate perception of community response and professed level of involvement ranging from fine by me, but no help to committed participant.

Evaluate the street dogs for suitability in colony.

Colony Members:

 Healthy, vaccinated, neutered animals showing no signs of aggression towards humans visibly marked or identifiable.

 i.e. collar color coded to the Colony Keeper, the color changing every 1 to 3 years.

Colony Size:

Scientific studies have shown that when a site is over populated, the Ecosystem goes out of balance resulting in disease; until firm numbers for the individual site can be studied, a healthy colony shall be deemed of correct size. Another indicator is increased aggression within the colony.

Colony Keeper responsible for:

Maintaining a healthy colony of non-reproductive animals easily identified as such.

Overseeing that daily access to clean water and food is provided.

Disposing of remains of dead animals or contacting appropriate authority to dispose of remains.

i.e. Dead dog on highway should not be picked up by non-government personnel for health and safety reasons.

Providing appropriate care or contacting appropriate governmental authority to provide said care.

 i.e. Dog hit in road needing immediate euthanasia.

  

Developing a T-N-R Colony from a pack of street dogs is a project requiring resources in time, energy, and money. A reasonable, but limited timetable for making an acknowledged transition from street dog pack to supported T-N-R Colony shall be from six to eight months.

From the time the Arawaks landed on these shores with their compact hunting dogs, free roaming dogs have been part of island life and culture. A well-known and popular fact is that the Puerto Rican people love their “Satos.”

With the ground swell of support for the humane treatment of the Puerto Rican Island Dogs, the Satos, the volunteers putting fourth personal resources look to the government to honor the GOOD SAMARATAINS, un- paid citizens, by indemnifying and holding harmless their efforts.

We respectfully look to the Mayor of  to work with the citizens to set the standard for the island in cooperation with the community to update a historic relationship with the island dogs; thus providing better health and public safety.

Acknowledging the difficult financial times, we look to the mayor’s office to support the effort by providing venues and resources at your disposal.

Most importantly we look to the Mayor to grant amnesty from live collection of Colony Dogs by any governmental or quasi-governmental agency.

Okay, this is the way I see it. Can I get a witness?!! ;)

Arecibo Animal Activists Meet With Mayor's Office

Local Animal Activists met outside Arecibo City Hall on Monday August 25th to protest the rounding up and killing of street dogs without so much as a time for owners to claim their pet from the pound. Activist leaders meet with the Vice Mayor to discuss a moratorium on collecting dogs in areas where rescuers are working on trap, neuter and release programs to curb birth rates in dog populations, and what is the latest story about the public Arecibo Animal Control Shelter.

Inside the government officials gave their requirements for co-operating with the activists to not collect and euthanize colonies of dogs being cared for by the activists.

Outside a hard working cadre of activists spoke to people passing City Hall asking if they supported mass killing of animals living on the streets or if they supported a more humane way such as tarp, neuter and release.

Citizens on the street supported the humane treatment of animals by signing the petition.

The activist leaders questioned the current status of the Arecibo Animal Control Shelter, which has sat vacant for the last four years. Talk continues about the reopening of the shelter.

On a personal note, I have to tell you how impressed I was with the strength and heart of the dedicated people I met in Arecibo on Monday. I salute you for your effort. 

Play Behavior

Hi,

My finger isn’t on the pulse of a damn thing. The quality of dog training in the last decade has increased tremendously. I’m retired, so I don’t write so much about training or life style with dog issues any more. Plenty of fine people do that.

Having said that, I’m about to talk to you about living with dogs and what I believe the dogs like because I’ve been reading stuff that says adult dogs don’t like to play, that we’re treating them like furry humans and that’s wrong, that we’re imposing play on them because we really want to play.

Yes, some dogs get over stimulated in day care; that is a management issue. That doesn’t mean a dog shouldn’t play with others. Is it an individual choice or a behavioral limitation? I’d say yes on both counts; how about you?

Does this dog need behavioral counselling? Only if it’s important to you that the dog do something it’s not currently comfortable with or good at? If it’s an issue for the human, it’s an issue.

Please, don’t try to tell me that adult dogs don’t play, that they only play because we want them to or expect it of them. Even if that were the case, so what?

Dogs that are reasonably well nourished and not in pain play in the cool of the evening here in the country, where they have room to run. Dogs seek safe play companions.

Robert "Red" Redford

Nobody wants to play with Blondie unless she’s extremely solicitous. The boys Lucky and Robert Redford play together or with Chi-Ping and she gets bitchy if they’re too rough with her, so they play best with each other. Lucky gets in Red’s face when he gets carried away. Blondie can be a real asshole when she gets pissed so she has to show a lot of play face and soliciting behavior before they play with her.

In the morning, they lineup to go hunting with her, so it’s not that they don’t want anything to do with her.

The dogs here play when they want to because I rarely do anything other than live with them. I am a totally non fun human being, but when I am fun they love it. They show off how they can run. They compete for my attention.

As long as they know my ground rules, the satos on the hill do what they want.

A Sato Hill Dog Day

Lizards, rats and mice beware the sato hill gang hunts at dawn. After a night sprawled on easy chairs and the sofa sleeping safely with nary a care, they’re ready to go.

They get kibble twice a day, so hunger isn’t a primary motivator, unless you count taste bud preferences.

The morning air fresh and cool calls them to stretch, look for a pet and then head to the door. Some morning furious sniffing near the house is required. Who came on our porch? Where are they? Who do we kill for this trespass? And on the trail they go.

Other mornings, if I step on the veranda with them, the dogs all come up for a pet goodbye and off they go to work. They each want their “kiss” before going. Even Blondie, who would bolt up the road in hot pursuit in previous years, must have a little love before she leads the hunt. Now that Lucky and Robert Redford are older they wait only to say goodbye to “mom.”

They’re very good boys that way, which drives Chi-Ping nuts. She guards her position as beta and alpha wanna a be. She has trained them since puppyhood to back down to her muzzle snapping and snarling; oddly enough, they still do in many instances. Other times they’re so focused on what they want, that they don’t even notice her. Poor girl.

The gang returns a couple of hours later or when I serve breakfast. Late morning through the heat of the day, they’re reclined like vacationers under the fans.

The boys were dropped off here as puppies, so this is the life they know. Chi-Ping knew about a year as a street dog. Blondie grew up in the street, where she spent years as an un-loved perra de calle. I see how each is affected by life experience. That’s the ability to handle each dog in such a way that nothing over stresses the dog.

Each of these dogs are so vastly different. Anthropomorphically I feel like I have two seventh grade boys, a precocious spoiled brat, and a big moody teenager.

Those of us who become aware of our dogs personalities enjoy them as individuals, not just the dogs. And about the human traits, I’m kidding. Chi isn’t precocious, she’s more like a little old lady accustomed to her own way.

Enjoy your day!

May dogs be with you!!

The Soul of an Animal Activist

“Hiiiiiiee!!” The welcoming call goes with outstretched arms and a big smile. A yard full of barking dogs echoes her excitement. She shuffles to the gate, takes a cha-cha step, opens the gate, does a twirl, her greeting completes with a rocking hug.

If you’re sensitive to the energy around you, you feel the love the dogs share with this woman. Dogs left in the street, starving and diseased wander her yard healthy with full bellies.

No matter how bad your day, and I’ve seen her on far too many personally bad days, you feel soothed by her hug. She loves in a way that’s more than mere words.She is love. You just want to take a deep breath, so you could breathe in love.

The Puerto Rican Island Dogs are her passion; rescuing them and improving their lives is the greatest work of her life. She wears her zeal like a coat of many colors giving her authority when dealing with government officials with whom she reasons to provide for a common good. Her efforts resulted in accredited education for Animal Control in Puerto Rico. In this effort she is not iron, but tempered steel.

The toll for this devotion comes constantly in the form of emails, text messages and phone calls. Coming home late night from a gig in another life’s passion, music, she has too often found a box of puppies in front of her gate. A penalty for people knowing of  her love for dogs she treats as a gift from God, but anger builds for people who don’t step up to do what’s right for the animals. People take advantage of her love and wash their hands like they've been responsible. That must seem at times impossible to bear.