Why I've been busy... (Part 1)

So I've got about a dozen blog updates I want to make, but I thought that my first should explain a bit about why I've been so busy for the past few weeks! Well, this might actually be multiple posts. So.... Why I've been busy Part 1 is dedicated to PAWS!

PAWS has been crazy. My friend Andrew, who was the president, left the island unexpectedly early, so I ended up being president. I swear, the animals wanted to give me a trial by fire. The day after Andrew left, things just started going crazy.

It started with the doberman I have named Rupert. Yup, a Doberman. Not exactly a typical island breed, so he probably belonged to a student or more wealthy landlord who could afford to ship in an expensive dog. Rupert's about two years old, and the slide show below shows the day that I found him. Press play, it's pretty horrific. This was on Halloween, and you can see why I didn't think he was going to survive.




I am incredibly happy to report that Rupert is doing WONDERFULLY. A month and a half later he has put on about fifty to fifty-five pounds. He has gotten his vaccinations and I've started the paperwork to send him to the States. That's right, Rupert is heading to the States! I found a wonderful woman in Pennsylvania who has been rescuing Dobermans for more than 20 years. She is totally in love with Rupert, who she met via photos, and will be paying his way home to her. Rupert will be flying home in the middle of January. Yay for Rupert! Here are his more recent photos! Doesn't he look incredible?



I couldn't have helped Rupert without the help of Danielle and Petrina, who have been fostering him. I couldn't foster Rupert, as I had my hands full with a second extremely skinny dog who also had behavioral issues. I picked up Soca for what was supposed to be one night. I thought he had a guarenteed home, and so we took him overnight. The home fell through, so I kept him one more night, and then one more. Then I told Ryan there was no way I could put this skinny, neurotic mess of a dog out on the streets. I'd fallen in love. Soca is about 10 months old and came to us with a crippling fear of men, locals, cars, other dogs, strangers, cows, loud noises, being alone... the list goes on. Walking him was difficult and he'd bolt blindly and without warning when he was frightened. I truly loved this dog, and wanted to keep him, but our landlord was reluctant. He loves how much I do for the dogs and cats down here, but if he let us keep a dog permanently, he'd have to let someone else. I was heartbroken, but I did find the perfect spot for Soca- with a couple who had studied at Ross and since left the island. Jo and Andrew live near Chicago and already had one island dog. They described their lifestyle and their other dog and I knew it would be perfect. On Tuesday, December 15th, Soca hopped on a jet and flew out of Dominica forever.

Soca wasn't alone on that flight however! Dom, a dog that had been used to train fighting dogs (he's too sweet to fight back and was used to give other dogs confidence), flew out as well. He found his forever home with Mary, a current student. Dom flew with Soca to Miami, where the two split up. Dom then continued on his way to Philadelphia, while Soca headed toward Miami. It was so great to see Dom- who is missing an ear and is covered with scars- heading to a loving home. He's such a friendly, kind dog! He really deserves a wonderful life.

And yes, there is a third dog. I put a collar with my number on young Lily when she was about four and a half months old. We didn't have a home for her, so we had to leave her loose. A few weeks later, a student and his wife offered to adopt her. When they'd owned her about three weeks, a local came forward and claimed that she was his dog, and that he owned Lily's mother. This made me furious for several reasons. First of all, Lily's mother is one of my favorite dogs and she's been VERY poorly treated. It made me mad that this guy owned her and did so little to take care of her! It also made me mad that he could claim to own this puppy, when he hadn't bothered to call the number on the collar that had miraculously appeared around her neck. At first, this local was insisting that he wanted Lily back. We were terrified. Lily's mother is incredibly skinny, and is about 9-10 and has a litter every few months (and awful things happen to those litters). We knew that Lily was doomed to the same fate of too many puppies and too little food. Luckily, we convinced him to sell us this mutt puppy, although he WAY overcharged us. I now pretty much hate this guy, and really want to steal Lily's mother. Poor old girl... she's the sweetest thing. Anyone want a gorgeous, sweet old lady?

In order for animals to leave the island, they need all their vaccines (even though rabies and distemper aren't present on Dominica) and they need a health inspection ten or fewer days before they fly out. The vet charges a lot less (and is in a much happier mood) if the animals get done in one inspection all at once, than if the owners all set up individual appointments. Dr. Thomas asked me to coordinate as many animals as possible, and I had thirteen dogs in my apartment, and Jen had six cats in her apartment, and there were a dog and a cat at a different apartment, who didn't get along with other animals at all. Dr. Thomas loved that we saved him that many trips, and gave us a good discount. He still had a few other people to help, but it saved him a lot of time. It took a LOT of coordination and time on the phone, but it was worth it! All the dogs and cats passed inspection and are heading home.

I thought that after finding homes for Rupert and Soca and coordinating the vet appointment, I'd be able to relax on our last day before flying home for break. Not so. I got a call early on Wednesday that a fourth semester student was abandoning their kitten when they flew off the island. This made me FURIOUS. It is never right to abandon an animal, but it is a death sentence to do so in Dominica. First, the cars drive like crazy, and a kitten who is rarely outside doesn't know to avoid cars. This kitten had been outside, but never off the porch. Second, there are dogs with very high prey drives down there, who will kill cats if they are hungry enough, and over break with few students providing food, the dogs will be hungry. This kitten had PLAYED with dogs in the past. She didn't know to run and hide from dogs. Then, there is the rat poison some locals lay out to try to deal with the stray overpopulation. This kitten, who had been provided two meals a day and didn't know how to hunt, would certainly have been at a big risk for eating what seemed like an easy meal of chicken, with hidden rat poison.

So I got up and walked out to this girl's house. I was proud that I didn't yell at her or loose my temper. She asked if she could just keep her kitten until Sunday, and I said no, I was taking it now. I did have trouble keeping my temper when she kissed the kitten all her its face and said she loved it. If she loved it, she'd have taken it home. So then the kitten, Mero, and I made the walk home. Mero is a GORGEOUS girl. She's lovely. I made a single phone call and found her a home that would pick her up Thursday morning, and a few more phone calls found her a place to stay Wednesday night, since Ryan and I were flying out very early on Thursday. Mero is now very happy in a loving home, no thanks to her terrible former owner.

Here are a few photos of some of the dogs of Dominica! The first album shows Soca and Lily (the pretty little white girl) and a few photos of Rupert. Then there are photos of the vet appointment, and some of the dogs in my apartment. You can also see Mr. Dom, sprawling on the ground. I haven't uploaded photos of Miss Mero yet, but I will!