Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Satos missing, looking for answers; LMBP in "The Bark"

I've been stalling to post this, but over my past few trips to Los Machos Beach, I have only seen 10 or so dogs. While this should seem like good news, we all know missing dogs could mean bad things. Maria, a dear friend of Amigos de los Animales, was kind enough to call the mayor of Ceiba's office to see if perhaps the local government had "removed" dogs from the beach. She was told that the city hadn't sent anybody to pick up dogs, and the City of Ceiba no longer has a contract with Humacao's Animal Control. It has also been rumored that local Ceibans may be removing dogs from the beach themselves, possibly taking them to be euthanized at nearby shelters or selling them for personal profit. The possibilities are endless. Universities around here used stray dogs in as test animals in labs. I met a man out there once who said he had picked up 3 dogs from Los Machos and gave one to his sister as a pet, one to a friend, etc. So who knows? My search isn't over for more definite answers.

Here are two of my personal favorite Los Machos satos that I have not seen over the past three weeks:


Gizmo: This long-time resident of Los Machos Beach loves belly rubs. A few weeks ago, when Liz and I picked up five other Los Machos satos, Gizmo was on my list to rescue and even had a sponsor (I'm still searching for him, Sandra!!!). Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found and is still missing.

Toby: Also still missing, Toby has been rumored to be hanging out at the abandoned gas station near Los Machos Beach. However, I have had no luck finding him there. He's the sweetest little hound mix ever.

I'll be heading out to Los Machos again this following Monday with my dear friend Karla (Blondie's rescuer). With a native Puerto Rican Spanish speaker by my side, hopefully I can get answers we can work with from locals face to face.

In other news, guess what blog was mentioned in a recent article about Puerto Rican satos in issue #48 of "The Bark" magazine???? You got it...THIS ONE!!!! Pretty neat, eh? While primarily an article written for fellow animal rescue and welfare group Save A Sato by their own Twig Mowatt, a bit about ADLA's huge involvement with the rescue work at Dead Dog Beach is included as well as a brief mention of the horrific crimes occurring at Los Machos Beach, with the Los Machos Beach Project blog address in parenthesis. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when my nearest and dearest friend Martha called me to tell me the news.


And finally, if you haven't watched the most recent ADLA video, please check out my last blog post and watch it when you have 3 minutes and 22 seconds. In it, you will see some of our favorite Los Machos satos, including the ever-famous Dakota.

Recent rescue update: Cha Cha and her nine (not ten...we miscounted!!!) puppies are doing fine last I heard. Annie and Nugget will be spayed either today or tomorrow, but otherwise are ready to be shipped to the States as soon as we have a flight. Mouse is now being sponsored by Liz. He's still a bit on the timid side, but a little of socialization should do the trick.

Blondie?...Well, that's a more difficult situation. We found out that besides having the common and usually highly treatable canine transmissible venereal tumors, she does have a sarcoma in her vagina that will be more problematic to treat. Dr. Ramos is working his magic to find a way to treat her in a similar manner as before, with something like chemotherapy. Other possibilities for treatment would include basically burning off the sarcoma, which is extremely painful for Blondie, or surgery, which would require breaking her pelvis among other invasive techniques. Colin and I played with her for a bit a few days ago. Amidst all she is going through, her spirits are never down. She LOVES giving hugs, has the sweetest demeanor, and has won everyone over at the vet's office...which is why giving up on her won't be an option. All I can hope for is that someone may come along that is willing to see Blondie through her battle, simply because she is so worth it.





Though obviously she is a very special and needy case, would anyone be interested in adopting Blondie??

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love those yellow labs!! How about any Lab Rescues? Is sending info. to Lab Rescues across the states something that can be done?? I'm sure that someone out there would be more than willing to help if the word was out there. I would love to take Blondie but I already have 3 of my own and 2 have medical needs. Please keep us posted as to how she is doing and what happens. Thanks!!

Anonymous said...

I hope that nothing has happened to the dogs and that you find them. I will keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. Are you really thinking that someone took them? People can be so cruel and many times for no reason! Please let us know what happens. I am continually checking back here to see what you post and sharing it with my colleagues and students. We're working on ways to collect money. Good luck and keep us posted.