Loose dogs roaming the beach in Rincón
Animal welfare in Puerto Rico may be one of the most obvious differences a person from elsewhere notices when they visit various parts of Puerto Rico. Though it is slowly changing (more so in Rincón than some places), you may still see street dogs (known in Puerto Rico as satos), or even loose pet dogs begging for food, mating, and wandering about with pups. Sometimes they look very sickly and occasionally they are hit by cars on the side of the road. They may be causing trouble getting into people’s yards, chasing or killing other animals, dumping trash cans, or barking and fighting with other dogs.
There are also many feral cats fending for themselves and territory and even abandoned horses sometimes in the middle of the road causing traffic issues. And the pet iguanas that were released at some point long ago now outnumber the human population (and are causing some major damage to the island’s flora)!
Our rescued cat, Kitty, came with us all the way from Colorado
I have always had a soft spot for animals and both our old dog Schnoodle and current cat Kitty were shelter rescues from Colorado. So I wanted to know, what is going on here in Puerto Rico, how is it changing, and what are the resources? Rather than attempt to tackle these questions myself, I decided to ask a few experts. Below are the responses from three leaders in animal welfare in the Rincón area. A huge thank you to all of them for taking time to help educate the community on this important issue!
Terrie Hayward, MEd, KPA-CTP, CPDT, CSAT, IAABC
Background/education in animal welfare
For eight years I ran a rescue group in a different part of PR & was the secretary for a group in Samoa previously. I have personally fostered hundreds of dogs (& a few cats) & worked to find appropriate, permanent homes for them.
My background is in education (MEd.) & I still work in education, however now my clients are animals & their caregivers. I’m a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA-CTP), & am also certified via the Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CPDT-KA) as well as specializing in Canine Separation Anxiety (CSAT-Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer) & Deaf Dogs & have authored the book, “A Deaf Dog Joins the Family” My business info can be found as follows: positiveanimalwellnes
What are the mission and goals of your organization/group/program?
I work with people & animals to improve upon communication & effect behavioral change using the science of positive reinforcement which is the route to happy, healthy lives for the animals & people who care for them.
Describe the current animal welfare situation in Puerto Rico. How is it similar or different to other places? Are there any special cultural considerations? How has it changed over the years?
Having lived outside of the US for the last 20 years & in many different locations the animal welfare situation is similar to PR in many places (including some spots within the US as well). Education is always the key from care to training to improving the overall quality of life for animals.
What are the best practices as well as new and promising practices regarding animal welfare?
Education, again, is the key. With behavior modification & training, at least half of the training is for the people. As such, providing education & information is not only good for animals & caregivers, but is beneficial to the health & safety of the community as a whole.
TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) is the key to stable cat colonies in spots where there is an overpopulation of outdoor cats. Once there is a stable colony, feeding & monitoring stations can help in the maintenance of the colony. The link above gives additional details as to how & why this protocol works best.
70-90% of animals relinquished to shelters are due to behavioral issues. Simple problems which, when approached appropriately, can easily be avoided &/or modified.
For this reason I always suggest that when folks bring a new animal into the home they work with a certified, professional force free trainer which can set people up to get started in the right direction.
How can individuals help?
There is always something that everyone can do to help with the overall global animal welfare issues: foster, adopt, donate, volunteer.
What does responsible pet ownership mean to you? What should a person do if they can no longer care for an animal?
According to Ken Ramirez, world renowned training & behavior expert, health care, nutrition, environment, and behavior management (training and enrichment) are all necessary parts, which collectively represent a good animal welfare plan.
Caring for an animal is a life long responsibility which means that we are always striving to improve upon the above to enhance the quality of life for the animals we live with.
A lot of the focus is on dogs. Are there any specific techniques or programs regarding the different species? (Cats, horses, iguanas, or other pets for instance pythons, parrots, turtles, etc)
The US Dept. of Fish & Wildlife handles other animal calls (birds for example).
Miriam Juan, President of ARF of Rincón
My name is Miriam Juan, I have been rescuing dogs independently and with ARF of Rincon for the past 15 years. I come from a family that has been rescuing animals all my life, sometimes we would have 20 dogs at home. My parents rescued horses also.
Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) of Rincon is an animal welfare organization that services the town of Rincon, Puerto Rico, that started in 1997 in the face of a sad incident. It was started by a handful of devoted volunteers that would rescue and find homes for dogs and cats. Since then, it has evolved to focus on eradicating animal overpopulation. Hence, its year-round low-cost spay/neuter voucher program. It also hosts special one-day Health Day community events where a regional vet administers vaccinations while ARF volunteers schedule spay/neuter appointments. In 2014, a total of 813 pets were rescued, reunited with their families, or adopted. ARF of Rincon also work with a trainer from PAWS. ARF also participates in educational seminar at schools and in low income communities.
Contact info is ARF of Rincon, PO Box 592, Rincon PR 00677, our website is www.arfofrincon.org, our Facebook page is ARF of Rincon. office phones 787-823-7167, 939-697-8161, emergency only 787-629-1246.
Current Animal Welfare Situation in Puerto Rico:
The current animal welfare situation in Rincon is better than ever; we focus on encouraging people to sterilize, vaccinate and provide proper care for their pets. Compared to the rest of Puerto Rico we have seen a big difference in malnourished stray dogs. Cultural considerations we face are the need to change the macho ideas that male dogs do not need to be neutered as well as owners not providing adequate housing such as tied on a very short rope or being exposed to the environments such as direct sunlight and rain.
Ideal Animal Welfare Scenario
Our ideal scenario will be that every pet have a loving home with proper care. No strays in the streets starving and sickly all the while reproducing. ARF has started TNR (trap, neuter, release) for cats however we rely 100% on individual donations because we receive no grants or government support. Law enforcement is not educated enough about Law 154 (Animal Welfare and Protection law), there is also a lack of animal investigators on the western side of Puerto Rico, the responsibility to check the situation and file complaints falls completely on ARF.
How Individuals Can Help
Individuals can help by donating time, money and fostering animals. ARF of Rincon has a set protocol for people that are interested in adoption. There is only 1 shelter on the western Puerto Rico and, sadly, it is a kill shelter, which we try to avoid however we do use their veterinary center for spay and neuter because they provide considerably lower cost.
If a person finds animal, they can contact a local rescue group from the area. If the dog is aggressive or destructive, they should call the municipality or the police. However in our experience; neither are responsive.
Responsible Pet Owners
A responsible pet owner understands that a pet is a family member, will provide vetting and basic care such as food, exercise and quality time.
Other Animals:
In Puerto Rico along the coast line there is a need for better protection of the sea turtles that migrate here to lay eggs we also need to protect the hatchlings. There is also a need for horse rescue in the western area of Puerto Rico.
Areas of need
We would love to find a way to provide low income vetting (veterinarian services) for residents of Rincon.
Thanks to ARF a law was passed in 2011 in Rincon for mandatory registration of pets; however we do not have the tools or money to enforce this law
A side note: ARF has arranged to have 75% of the residents of the low income areas spay/neuter and vaccinate their pets. We have managed to make an agreement with the Family Department to allow residents to foster dogs for ARF as part of their community service hours
Cynthia Calvin, MS, President of DAR
Background and Interest in Animals
Cynthia Calvin – Masters Computer Science. In 2010 I watched a Documentary from the Rincon Film Festival – 100,000 Movie That documentary got me acting for animals in Puerto Rico – prior to that I had no animals of my own and barely noticed animals anywhere in the world. We’d moved to Rincon in 2009.
What are the mission and goals of your organization/group/program?
To read the full mission and purpose, go to: www.darrincon.org/about
We are based out of Rincon but we will help anyone in Puerto Rico rescue/help a dog, cat or horse. Homes, forever or permanent, are the hardest thing for us to find.
Defensa Animal de Rincon is a Puerto Rico based non profit working to increase sterilization rates among cats and dogs on the island while improving all animal lives through educational programs, awareness and offering assistance to animal rescuers and is funded 100% Via Donations.
Describe the current animal welfare situation in Puerto Rico. How is it similar or different to other places? Are there any special cultural considerations? How has it changed over the years?
It is pretty much the same as the documentary noted above shows it. However, because ARF has been around for so long doing amazing work, Rincon has many tourists with money who visit and rescue on their own and Rincon now has 3 non-profit Rescue Groups today. The situation in Rincon is not bad like the documentary shows and not bad like the rest of the Island.
We started Defensa because at the time we started it, 2014 – ARF had a policy to only help Rincon animals (that may have changed) and because ARF did not rescue horses. Defensa will help anyone help an animal anywhere in Puerto Rico and we will help with horses. However, we do nothing (normally) without an individual leading the rescue. We help with Vet services and marketing for adoption – so that people can rescue independently.
We do not ask for adoption fees. This is controversial, but in our experience – if you let the rescuer/foster decide on the best forever home you won’t be giving an animal to someone who isn’t going to take care of it. Also, money is not required to give an animal rescued from the streets a beautiful forever home. Also, the amount of time in bookkeeping it takes to follow up on adoption fees and all that goes with ‘micro managing rescues’ is not something that worked for us. We have found there are people with money to donate who can’t adopt/rescue/foster and there are people without money who can adopt/rescue/foster. I’ve never felt people should profit from rescuing animals – but on the other hand I’ve always felt if people could figure out a profitable business for rescuing it would the solution. We would like to help someone open a shelter/pet shop/grooming facility in Rincon (to show off any street rescued animal) we just haven’t found that someone.
What would the ideal scenario of animal welfare in Puerto Rico look like?
The Island government starting a free Spay/Neuter program.
The City governments starting free spay/neuter programs. I say Spay only sometimes because it avoids the whole issue with chopping off the balls. If you don’t want to chop off the boys’ balls then spay all the females! (Editor’s note: In Puerto Rico this seems to stem from a tendency culturally to not want to literally and figuratively “emasculate” their animals. And this has a large impact on why animal populations can quickly become out of control.)
The Cities starting animal registration / tagging services
The body that oversees Vet licensing allowing Vets from outside PR an easy way to get a temporary license to hold free spay/neuter clinics. Currently they don’t respond to requests and don’t care about the need. Therefore, free clinics can not legally happen.
What are the best practices as well as new and promising practices regarding animal welfare?
I don’t know. The situation is so screwed up in PR, you are just trying to keep your head above water – best practices – for me at least – are a dream I don’t have time to think about. I think about the animal on the streets with no home, no water, no food – or worse, the horse tied on a hope in the sun with no water, no food, no care.
How has and can the larger system help?
Spay, neuter, money and programs -the missing piece for dogs and cats.
Horses – the missing piece is a law that would allow a rescue group to TAKE a neglected horse. Horses have value and it is illegal to help a horse without the owner’s permission. I have taken photos of horses that look like the are going to drop over dead to the Rincon police station and they say … Sorry nothing we can do without owners permission – and owner says … sorry, the horse is just ‘old’. LAWS for seizing horses are really needed. Horse owners would straighten up if they feared their horse could be taken from them. And I’m not talking about A1 care – I’m saying owners should be required to keep horses with water and grass and feet trimmed (tick free) – bare minimal care is lacking and (if they can’t provide at least that it) should be illegal!
How can individuals help? How can someone find an animal to adopt? What shelters are there? What should a person do if they see a sato or loose dog? What if it is aggressive or destructive? Are the police responsive?
For the full description: Visit darrincon.org/rescue
PLEASE DON’T LEAVE a sick, injured, neglected or reproducing animal on the streets. It is just adding to the problem. It is cruel to the animal. Animals reproduce, get sick and suffer on the streets.
Remember: You Can Take The Animal Out of Puerto Rico
Flying animals from Puerto Rico to the USA or Canada is easy and not that expensive when you consider it is likely saving that animals life. We are here to help darrincon@gmail.com
Use The DAR Open Rescue Program Facebook.com/DARRincon. With this system, DAR can pay for initial Vet services (minimally vaccinations and sterilization) and provide an audience/marketing to find a home. You can also contact DAR through email when you find an animal in need with all the relevant information. darrincon@gmail.com
You Can Assist With Endangered, Mistreated or Dead Animals -by calling the local police, city hall or 911. Law 154 protects animals from abuse. We have found if you are polite and persistent, you will find a law official willing to respond.
Numbers you can call in Rincon –
The Rincon Police 787-823-2020
Rincon City Hall 787-823-2180
Public Works (dead animal pick up) 787-823-2882
As a LAST RESORT …. You Can Take The Animal To a Kill Shelter
We hate even putting this down as an option. But if you can not do one of the above options, PLEASE DON’T LEAVE a sick, injured, neglected or reproducing animal on the streets. It is just adding to the problem. It is cruel to the animal. Animals reproduce, get sick and suffer on the streets. Please don’t turn your back on any animal in need you see in Puerto Rico. Around Rincon, Villa Michelle in Mayaquez (787-834-4510) is a shelter that most always will take in an animal. But Villa Michelle is NOT A No Kill Shelter.
If the animal is a horse, rooster, pig, bird, turtle or fish contact the Defensa Facebook page or follow the instructions on the rescue link.
Roosters contact Jose from SOS Gallos
Beachfront or Ocean issues contact the DRNA (Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales) at or 787-999-2200
Or contact Fish and Wildlife
What does responsible pet ownership mean to you? What should a person do if they can no longer care for an animal?
Feeding, watering and not putting an animal on a rope is good enough for me. Find a friend in the States to take your animal if you can’t keep in in PR (read rescue page above) because there are NO no-kill shelters accepting animals that we have ever found/heard of in PR
Anything else?
We are also actively fighting ‘cock fighting’ – because it is wrong to force any animal to fight. Traditions become outdated. When they fight these birds, they give them horrible lives of living in a tiny cage day in and day out. They toss them in bags and haul them to fights. They then toss them on the streets, beaches or trash cans when they die in the fight. No argument for tradition will ever sit right with me. Not speaking up for a helpless animals will ever sit right with me. When you see something that is unfair and cruel – to animal or human – you should say something – even if you can’t do something – spread the word. That is our motto at Defensa. Not everyone can foster or rescue an animal – but if you care you can spread the word. Thank you for spreading the word!
Thank you again to Terrie, Miriam and Cynthia for helping to shed a little more light on the complicated issue of animal welfare in Puerto Rico. Below is a list of resources and rescue organizations that I found while researching this topic. If there are others, please let me know and I will add it to this list. I hope it helps!
List of Resources and Rescues in Puerto Rico
ARF- Animal Rescue Foundation of Rincón
Barks of Hope –leo@barkofhopes.org
EDITOR’S NOTE: The comments from August were moved from the Cost of Living post.
Doing resesrch on this issue, I see that all the relevant articles about animal cruelty are from 2006 – 2008. The most recent article I’ve found points out the significant progress that’s been made and the assignment of 100 prosecutors specifically charged with prosecuting these cases. It also talks about the sharp decline in these cases and the substantial number of shelters and charitable agencies that are emerging on the island. I am planning to move to the west coast of Puerto Rico and really need to hear from someone living there now. How bad or improved is this situation? Thank you!
Blaine, You may not see the horror in your “honeymoon” stage/visit. It can take time to be sensitized to it. Cassie may not see the same things I did, they also live in Rincon and things might be better there but Rincon is small and the island has so much more to offer than just Rincon.
I drove from San German to Aguadilla every day and could count 10+ dead dogs/cats in the road EVERY day in various states of decay. It would take about 2 weeks for a pile of fur to disappear so new ones were constantly added. Then I moved to Moca and only drove 30 minutes each day down HW112 and I would see different horrors along with the dead dogs and cats. It was a very rural road so dogs and puppies were always dumped in the road. Oh did I mention the pig heads, cows, ect that were also dumped on the side of the narrow road? Read the Krusechronicles if you want to see the good and the bad.
Jeff
Blaine there are issues more important in Puerto Rico than animal cruelty for example like the economy or recently high taxes. It seems you and Miriam are better off moving next to Jeff as next door neighbors,,maybe they don’t have any animal cruelty where is he is living now.Dont seem to wory Britton or Cassie the way the are telling their story on their blog.
Regarding the topic the neglect animals/strays as abuse…
Yes. I agree and feel sorry (I´m an animal person myself having 2 dogs and 1 cat). However, as sad as it is that these animals have struggle to live at the very least people don´t physically hurt them. They just let them be.
I live in Spain and you wouldn´t believe how people DO physically hurt animals. Not only the ones living in streets but the ones they own as well. I´ve read and heard stories that would make you cry.
Just to give you an example: some hunters that have greyhounds when they grow old and can´t do the job they hang them from trees.
…and that´s nothing compared to other extreme cases. Of course people should be humane but here they don´t care about animals. As such laws in regards to this issue are weak and they don´t even make public service announcements.
So, as sad as it is to see those animals on the streets of Puerto Rico at least I can rest knowing people won´t torture them. And laws have been made to protect them. If I´m not mistaken several years ago it was implemented that if you hit an animal with your car and don´t take it to the vet for leaving will cost you a thousand fee (don´t remember if it´s 1,000-2,000 or more) and even jail time.
Well Lester I mostly agree with you but I have seen way to many dogs in PR on very short metal chains 100% of the time. That is torture. As a perspective, I would pass by 10+ dead dogs every DAY on my way to work in PR. I have seen 3 dead dogs in 1.5 years here in Albuquerque.
Jeff
“Read the Krusechronicles if you want to see the good and the bad.”
Oh come on Jeff, you can’t really believe that, can you? That blog is the kind of blog that makes statements like “The setting is spectacular and is an example of how all of Puerto Rico could be” when talking about golf resorts.
“As a perspective, I would pass by 10+ dead dogs every DAY on my way to work in PR. I have seen 3 dead dogs in 1.5 years here in Albuquerque.”
I wonder if the fact that Albuquerque has natural predators, a working economy, animal control, and a large middle class, has anything to do with it. “Perspective” is a word that doesn’t exist in your vocabulary.
Mr. Jeff kruse, I kind of noticed that at the end of your stay in PR l, you guys got quite discriminating when it came to the puertorican food, lifestyle and other islan traditions to the point of getting very offensive and insulting to those islanders, regardless of where they came from as if letting out the true feelings of you towards puerto ricans. No very much appreciated…
I appreciate your taking the time and initiative in publishing this information. I currently have 11 cats and a greyhound staying with me and have been very active in animal welfare issues here stateside. I disagree that “worrying” about animals when there are people issues to be addressed is an excuse to ignore such a horrible situation. One does not negate the other! In fact, I believe setting up resources and solutions for both people and animals goes hand-in-hand. We learn vital skills and an appreciation for others in both situations. I’d like to see some kind of programs implemented in schools as children who grow up with empathy for animals often grow up as better and more well-rounded adults. It takes time and considerable effort to implement changes but EVERY EFFORT is a victory. You never fully realize how one positive action can affect changes. Let’s not lose sight of the reason the post was added in the first place. Hoping to foster positive changes and allowing us to appreciate each other and a respect for life in general isn’t a bad thing. I don’t understand how attacking someone who tries to make things better is helpful. By the by, I’m not some Pollyanna with her head in the clouds. I do massive amounts of volunteer work for people too and I am always willing to discuss options for tackling these problems, but please, let’s not attack someone who does try to help. Sitting in a chair and railing at the world in general doesn’t accomplish anything and is far too easy to do. That song that was popular about “waiting for a change” bothered me so much. We ARE the change and waiting for someone else to fix things before we get involved is the most pitiful excuse ever. If we help one person or animal I consider that a win. So I intend to take this information and try to support, in whatever way I can, positive changes for animals and people. My significant other is Puerto Rican and respect for the people and culture of Puerto Rico is not an issue for me. Let’s try to keep things on the positive side and move toward a better life in general. I’m sooo far from perfect but my trying isn’t an excuse to attack me or anyone else who’s trying to help. I think most of us would like to leave a better world for the next generation and it has to start somewhere. Respect and common courtesy can’t hurt in any situation (my grandmother’s mantra). Oh, and doing something positive helps you live longer and makes you healthier in the long run-medically proven-and that way we can outlive the negative folks and enjoy the extra time in a more positive environment!
Eggy, I don’t like the word culture. I think it’s used as an excuse for bad behavior. Tradition can also be used as an excuse for bad behavior. Sure, I might not like the food but that certainly is not something to be offended about. If you’re a nice person then I will respect and admire you. If you’re a bad person then I will say so. I only report what I saw and made generalizations. Generalizations generally will earn an A or a B. I prefer to be correct 80 – 90% of the time rather than not generalizing and being wrong 80% of the time.
Generalizing will save your life in Puerto Rico. Generally Puerto Rico divers will pull out in front of you with no regards to your safety. So if I see a car sitting on the side of the road with someone in it I need to expect that they will pull right out in front of me at any time. Also, for red lights I need to expect that 5 – 10 cars will go through the red light. And at a 4 way stop I will expect that no one will stop.
I am sorry if your offended by that. If you want to generalize about “Americans” (which Puerto Ricans are) then go ahead. I will agree if what you say is generally true. I will not be offended.
Great informative post. I think it was last year some time that an animal welfare group from the states was trying to organize an island wide program for tnr. They wanted to bring over several vets and perform spay/neutering but there was some laws in place that kept them from doing so. They had a petition and so forth..I lost the link a long with my computer some time ago though. Anyways, I wonder if vets on the island could collectively offer a quarterly lost cost option for low income families and/or rescue organizations. I think the local professional community is desperately needed to step in to set an example and show that they can make a difference for the overall benefit of the island.
Need to find out what are. The right of a Private Citizen …. the burden that a Dog rescues cause to the neighbors