Dead Dog Beach
A
Dalmatian Rescue "Mercy
for Life"
Rescue Program
Welcome to the beautiful tranquil island of Puerto Rico. On an
island the size of Connecticut, Puerto Rico has 78 cities. While each city is
required by law to have an animal shelter, there are currently 2 small, ill
equipped, and under funded shelters on the island.
They cry out for our help!
Yabucoa Beach has attracted significant attention in recent
months as volunteer animal rescuers have brought to light the horrific
conditions of the animals abandoned there by people who no longer want to take
responsibility for them. Situated along the southeast coast of Puerto Rico lies
Yabucoa beach, also known as Dead Dog Beach. The name speaks for itself! This is
a notorious site for abandoning animals. The animals abandoned or born here are
destined to die a painful death. On a daily basis animals are being poisoned,
beaten, shot at as targets or butchered to their
demise. Others are emaciated and suffer from mange, heartworms and other
illnesses. The animals on this beach and other beaches throughout Puerto Rico
are desperate to be rescued and receive the loving care we believe every
animal deserves.
To date Dalmatian Rescue has rescued, received, cared for and placed 10 Dalmatians and mixes from Dead Dog Beach...Lolita, Alana, Calypso, Rocco, April, Jillian, Summer, Lilly and most recently Dante and Holly. There are many more hopeful stories of happy endings waiting for these once neglected abandoned animals with your assistance in our endeavor. more adoption information
All
pets flown to us from Puerto Rico have already been appropriately vaccinated as
required to obtain a health certificate. Most are intact, requiring our
organization to spay/neuter and most are diagnosed with heartworm disease, again
requiring treatment or post heartworm treatment.
Most of the expense in this program is incurred by bringing the pet up to health standards to make them ready for adoption into loving homes.
Abuse and neglect are commonplace in this area of Puerto Rico and Rocco is just one example of the outward scars left behind such unimaginable torture. Below you will see Rocco’s humble beginnings on the island and the injury he suffered. Rocco has healed with our loving hands and now resides in a wonderful, loving forever home with other Dals adopted from our organization. Rocco is loved and treated with the utmost respect that all animal kind deserves.
For more details on this beach and the rescue effort involved at the beach, don't forget to go to Amazon.com, or your local bookstore, and pick up a copy of Traer Scott's book "Street Dogs" due out soon. "Street Dogs" has portraits of over 90 dogs and their stories, many of which were rescued from "Dead Dog Beach." Also check out the recent article in People Magazine dated April 28th featuring Steve McGarva and his new purpose in helping those abandoned on Dead Dog Beach. www.people.com.
Precious Cargo Arrives at Miami International Airport
Our job is never done — our Dals always need us — every single day. Please help us continue our lifesaving work, with a secure online gift today! Dalmatian Rescue, Inc. is a no-kill, not for profit organization. One hundred percent of your contribution goes to Dalmatian Rescue, Inc. No professional solicitor will retain any percentage of your contribution. Our Florida
Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services registration number is:
CH10912. A copy of our official registration and financial information
may be obtained from the Division of Consumer Services by calling (800)
435-7352 within the state of Florida. |
US
Shelters Take in Caribbean Dogs
YABUCOA, Puerto Rico - Some visitors to Puerto Rico are leaving with an unusual souvenir — one of the thousands of scrappy abandoned dogs that roam the island's beaches.
Hundreds of abandoned canines are being scooped
up and flown to the U.S.: some by tourists
unexpectedly touched by their plight, others as
part of an expensive organized rescue effort. But
critics say the canine airlift does little to
reduce the problem of stray dogs in Puerto Rico
and ends up fueling overcrowding at the U.S.
shelters, where many of the dogs inevitably end
up.
At least 175 dogs have been rescued in the last couple of years from Yabucoa Beach, which activists nicknamed "Dead Dog Beach" because of the strays that roam the coast and are sometimes found dead of disease, starvation or gunshots. Similar rescue efforts have been undertaken in the Bahamas and elsewhere in the Caribbean.
The Save A Sato Foundation — "sato" is Puerto Rican for mutt — recruits volunteers to bring dogs back on commercial flights and sends between 1,500 and 2,000 dogs a year from Puerto Rico to American shelters, where they are often quickly adopted.
Other dogs return unexpectedly with American tourists, who often call the Humane Society International seeking advice on how to bring back dogs they find in the Caribbean.
Christina Aquilino, 39, of Mendon, Mass., has flown to Puerto Rico twice to bring back abandoned dogs on her own initiative after she adopted a Puerto Rican Jack Russell-terrier mix named Odie in her hometown.
She has spent more than $800 on airline tickets, staying less than 24 hours on the island each time. The dogs often ride in crates in the cargo hold, but Aquilino brought two tiny Chihuahua look-alikes back home with her in the cabin.
"It's money well-spent," she said. "To see these dogs board the planes ... it brings tears to my eyes."
But the Humane Society discourages such measures and instead wants Puerto Rico and other parts of the Caribbean to develop their own animal welfare programs, said Kelly O'Meara, its director of international programs.
"We don't see importing animals into the U.S. as a solution," she said. "We have our share of homeless animals already."
However, some shelter managers in the U.S. say some people specifically ask for "satos" from Puerto Rico or "potcakes" from the Bahamas, named after the discarded "cake" that a peas-and-rice dish leaves at the bottom of a pot.
"Potcakes seem to be pretty athletic," said Bridget Barry, a veterinarian at a shelter in Ithaca, N.Y. "I guess you have to be tough to survive on the streets."
At Yabucoa Beach, scores of dogs roam an abandoned marina, surviving on garbage scraps and drinking from salty puddles but attracting little public sympathy or attention from Puerto Rico's government.
There's no pet registration law in Puerto Rico and little spaying or neutering, so animal shelters are overwhelmed and must kill many of the dogs they receive, said Victor Collazo, president of the island's Association of Medical Veterinarians.
Florida-based Manos por Patas — Hands for Paws — recruits veterinarians to help control strays in Puerto Rico by spaying and neutering, while also seeking volunteers to fly them to the U.S.
The group has helped rescue about 175 dogs in recent years from Yabucoa Beach, said Ginny Cornett, a biologist from Florida who visits Puerto Rico a couple times a year. But most strays are too sick or aggressive to travel, so they are spayed or neutered and released back into the wild.
Dog-lovers have to do something, Cornett said.
"After you see it," she said, "you can't walk away."
They're
here! Three Dalmatian pups
have finally arrived at Miami International Airport via 