Special dog needs a special home

Meet Jess. He arrived at the beach in Yabucoa over a year ago nearly dead. Someone had thrown scalding grease on him and then taken him to the beach and left him to die a horrific and lonely death. The beach team who feeds the dogs in that area found Jess bleeding profusely with his bones and internal organs exposed. They stitched him up, literally with a needle and thread, and gave him topical antibiotics and cared for him as best they could. After a long time, Jess' bodily wounds have healed though he is left with the physical and emotional scars that will never heal. Jess was taken from the beach by Liz Kracht and her great rescue team a couple of months ago, along with about 20 other dogs, with hopes of placing them all into good homes. He tested positive for heartworm but has been treated for that and has also been neutered and has all his shots. But Jess remains in the shelter with no prognosis for a home. He is a physically strong and also a strong-willed dog with LOTS of energy and has never had any training whatsoever on how to behave with humans (at least with humans who want only to love him) or with other dogs. He needs to find a home quickly or the only choice it to return him to the beach. So we need to put the word out to find a home for him that will accept his physical scars as well as his lack of obedience. He needs to be the single dog - or perhaps with a female dog - but not another male because he gets too aggressive. And he needs someone who will take time to exercise him and patience to train him. If you know of someone who can accept this special dog, please contact me asap. Manos por Patas will cover the costs of transporting him to the right home. Jess is really a loving dog who has had a really lousy start to his life and he deserves a chance at a happy and safe home. Can you help?

Puppies, puppies, everywhere!

As you know, Heidi gave birth to 7 lovely little pups a couple of weeks ago. Rachel had a litter a few days prior but it appears all but 1 of hers died. She brought the remaining one to Heidi and the two of them were sharing the nursing for a couple of days. Luckily, we were able to get Heidi and all 8 puppies off the beach and into foster care. Dana, who had her pups a couple of weeks ago as well, had been hiding her pups. But today they were discovered! There are 5 little bundles of joy. They seem to be healthy but we hope to find someone who would take Dana and her litter to a safe place for her to nurse and wean them. If anyone has space, we'll take care of all costs for you. Pictures of Dana, the litter, and their home are below.

Sad news

Today I learned that we lost a few of our rescues from DDB. Three were young puppies. Though it's difficult to accept the loss of a tiny little innocent like that, we all know that they are so susceptible to all of the disease they encounter in the wild - much more so than adults. So even though it hurts nonetheless, we know ahead of time that we will lose a certain percentage of the babies. And we cry for every one.

But the two that hurt the most on this occasion were Paca and Lucy. Paca was at a shelter in the U.S. hoping for adoption but she continually tested food aggressive. The shelter administrators felt she could be dangerous to adoptees so she was euthanized. To be honest, I don't believe that was the correct decision - I believe Paca deserved behavioral training to get her prepared for life in the world. But that's the decision that was made and it can't be changed.

And Lucy, dear little Lucy, is gone too. Apparently when the vet went in to spay her, he found a blood-filled tumor attached to her aorta the size of a grapefruit. He determined that it was inoperable and had to euthanize her. I'm told he was very upset by the decision and tried everything he could to save her but there was no feasible positive end. So our sweet Lucy is no longer with us. We can only be thankful that her last 3 or so months on this earth were spent with a full belly, a soft, dry bed, and a gentle hand to stroke her head.

Rudy, Ginger and Sally find homes!

Rudy, Ginger and Sally were all adopted from Tri-Boro recently. I had a special place in my heart for Mr. Rudy so I'm glad he's finally with a good family. I'll let you know if we hear more news from their adoptive families.

Catching up for the holidays

I've been so busy lately, I haven't been able to tell you the good news! Simba, Salem and Mia, kittens being fostered from very early on, left last week for Tri-Boro in New Jersey! They are all so beautiful that we know they'll find homes very quickly! Also, Marvin, Harry, Flora, India and Sandy were sent to Tri-Boro as well! We're all hoping they all find the best homes possible 'cause they're all deserving of love and cuddles!

Two new darlings, Miki and Yuki, were dumped at the beach last week. These babies were no more than 2 weeks old. They were taken to Save a Sato where they'll be cared for until they are ready for adoption.

And all the dogs at the vet in Humacao (Wendy and Molly, Phaelan, Conan and Honey, Gretel, Toby, Mota and Maia) were taken to GooDoggie kennel and should be able to leave for the states very soon. They all look fantastic. Phaelan arrived at the vet with a nasty bite wound that had to be sutured but it's healed nicely. And poor little Mota was just a tangled mess of fur. She was shaved clean and underneath was an ugly skin infection. That, too, has cleared up nicely and she's growing beautiful white hair back!

We've had 3 sets of litters born at the beach in the past couple of weeks. Heidi had 7 puppies. Rachel, who was also pregnant, hid her pups and the litter never was found but she suddenly brought one of her pups to Heidi and the two began sharing the nursing duties. We suspect that Rachel's other puppies didn't make it so she took the last one to Heidi for help. Heidi and her 7 plus Rachel's 1 were removed from the beach and taken to GooDoggie; once the pups are weaned, Heidi will be spayed and she and all the pups put up for adoption. Rachel will be taken in to be spayed soon, once we're sure she doesn't have any other puppies around. Dana had a litter as well but the puppies were only found just today - she did a great job of hiding them! She had six little dark babies. We hope to get her and her litter off the beach soon but there's just no room with all the other ones waiting in line to be transported to shelters in the states.

We are desperately looking for a foster or permanent home for a young (approx. 2 year old) lab mix named Paloma. Her "family" decided they didn't want her anymore so dumped her off near a school. She's taken up residence in the parking lot of the school for lack of anywhere else to go. Unfortunately, some workers at the school have threatened to poison her if she doesn't "go away" so we are hoping someone will come forward with a place to keep her until we can get her into a permanent home. If anyone can take care of (or wants to adopt!) a sweet, gentle yellow/white lab mix who is already spayed, please contact us to make arrangements. Manos por Patas will pay all costs associated with her care including food and medical attention.

And lastly for now, the final days of the raffle are approaching. The drawing will be on New Year's Eve so the last day to purchase online is December 27. Come on, everyone, this is an AWESOME package! I've been saying they make great stocking stuffers! If the recipient wins, that's the best gift ever! But even if they DON'T win, a donation in their name was made to help these animals.