Meetings in Puerto Rico

I just got back from Puerto Rico meeting with the Governor’s office and with the Mayor of Yabucoa. SO much was accomplished and the things that are so needed there are really going to happen!!!

First, the meeting at the Governor’s office. I met with the Special Consultant to the Governor, Jorge Rodriquez. We’d spoken a lot on the phone and through e:mails and it was great to finally meet. He is very energetic and truly wants to see sweeping changes made in PR regarding the treatment of animals. There were also two representatives from the USDA Forest Service there. They attended because there is a big problem with “dumping” (abandoning cats and dogs) in El Junque, the National Rainforest of PR. They, too, want to see dumping reduced, population control, and shelters for strays. There are only two shelters in PR which can take in any animals and neither of them are no-kill – basically, the dogs comes in and is immediately euthanized – they have no room to keep animals to adopt out. All members of the meeting were very “on board” with a shelter (and I stressed “no-kill”) in the southeast region. We want to get the Puerto Rico Tourism Department and the PR Health Department involved as the overpopulation of strays on the island directly affects them as well.

The meeting with Yabucoa Mayor Hon. Angel Garcia went better than I could have ever dreamed! The Mayor, his Special Consultant, the Yabucoa Police and Municipal Police Commanders, and the Yabucoa Public Relations representative were all present. Sandra Cintron attended with me which was priceless since neither of the police attendees spoke English. I truly believe the Mayor was sincere in his desire to stop the abandonment and cruelty towards animals that is occurring in his town.

He specifically wants:
1) a shelter in his town (we discussed a shelter that also had a veterinarian office as part of it – the profits from the vet’s office can help fund the shelter,
2) public awareness campaigns that there are alternatives to dumping or killing unwanted animals,
3) more police presence along the beach to actually GIVE OUT TICKETS for those who dump animals or engage in any cruel acts towards them,
4) “DOOR TO DOOR” visitation by Public Relations representatives discussing the new anti-dumping/anti-cruelty campaign,
5) community involvement in this campaign – i.e. getting the Yabucoa citizens involved when the new shelter is built, ….,
6) weekly mention of the campaign against cruelty – via newspaper, radio, bulk mailing, etc…,
7) local merchants, especially hotel owners, to get involved in the campaign,
8) meeting with local clergy to get their congregations involved,
9) education in the schools concerning ethical and legal issues of animal cruelty, and,
10) he wants me to find “model” shelters in the States and he will come visit them!

This is not going to happen overnight but we made HUGE strides in these two meetings.

I was lucky enough to meet two wonderful animal rescuers – Yolanda Torres and Liz Kracht. Both of them were generous enough to offer me their homes rather than spend $$ on a hotel. The first night, I stayed with Yolanda in the rainforest in Las Piedras. She has about 15 puppies and maybe 10 cats in her house and has larger dogs outside. She is taking care of them to prepare them for transport to U.S. shelters. She is an absolute ANGEL in my book to dedicate her life to saving these innocent animals from certain death. Friday night I stayed with Liz and her boyfriend, Efran, in San Juan. She is fostering 5 kittens, about 2-3 months old – and they are little balls of energy!!!! She also is fostering a darling little dog named Lady who is as sweet as they come. I was so thrilled to get to meet two amazing people who spend their time, energy and hard-earned money on getting animals to shelters in the U.S. I’m so thankful for them and all the people who care for the animals in Yabucoa. YOU ARE MY HEROES!!!