Puerto Rico, Here I Come!

I will be flying to Puerto Rico on Wednesday afternoon and will stay through Saturday night. I will be a busy little beaver when I'm there. There are 2 main reasons I'm going at this time. The first is to grab as many dogs at the beach as possible and take them in for spay and neuter. We'll get mostly females on Thursday morning b/c they need more time at the vet to heal and we're leaving Saturday night. Then Friday morning we'll be grabbing up males and remaining females for their little trips to the vet. Dr. Burgos in Humacao is giving us a rate of $45 per dog for spay or neuter. That's a great discount. However, it's still going to cost lots of money so if you can make a donation, you'd be providing for more dogs to be sterilized. Aside from so many other things, we really need to control the population at the beach. We shouldn't have to worry about females giving birth and having to deal with their puppies anymore. I'm taking a friend with me, Danielle, who is a vet tech at the emergency clinic near me. She's a big-time animal lover and a great person and she offered to go to Puerto Rico to help out with anything I needed. I think the poor girl is going to regret that after the grueling week!

The other thrust to my visit is to meet with as many people I can about the cruelty and abandonment issues at the beach. I have a meeting with the Mayor of Yabucoa, the Police Commander, and the Public Relations guy at the Mayor's office to discuss what they should be doing - actually what they SHOULD HAVE already done - to solve this hideous problem. I will also be meeting with the local clergy for a discussion on how they can become involved in teaching that cruelty is wrong. I certainly believe that their God is not happy when they abuse the creatures He so lovingly created. I'm also holding a press conference on Friday. Media from all around Puerto Rico have been invited. The Mayor will be a part of it as well as me and also rescuers from the area. When I give my opening remarks, I will have a powerpoint slideshow playing behind me that will flash picture after picture after picture of dead animals at the beach. It's gruesome but should get some attention. I also, as I mentioned, want to meet with the hotel owners and hold them accountable for what happened on Friday.

We'll also be bringing back a few dogs when we return. We can each take up to 50lbs so there's the possibility we can even take more.

Wish me luck and succes!