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Central Florida groups help find new homes for Puerto Rico stray dogs

Jeannette Rivera-lyles | Sentinel Staff Writer

October 19, 2007

News that more than 50 cats and dogs were thrown to their deaths from a bridge in Puerto Rico last week circled the globe and horrified many. Christine Driscoll's reaction was no different. She felt sick to her stomach, angry, frustrated and helpless.

But not surprised.

When Driscoll moved to Puerto Rico 13 years ago, she planned to teach English at a private school. But she was overwhelmed by the thousands of stray cats and dogs on the island and by the authorities' failure to enforce animal-cruelty laws. In response, Driscoll, now a resident of Baldwin Park in Orlando, founded Amigos de los Animales (Friends of the Animals).

The organization, which she runs from her home office, rescues and rehabilitates stray cats and dogs in Puerto Rico and finds them homes in Florida and other states.

On Thursday, Driscoll joined forces with the SPCA of Central Florida to find homes for dogs through its shelters. Initially, an official with the agency said, it will take 30 to 50 dogs from the island.

"In the future we might be able to take more," said Jake White, senior vice president of the SPCA of Central Florida.

Driscoll has adopted two dogs of her own from the island -- Paloma and Ally -- and recently placed a dog with an Orlando couple.

Initiatives such as this one are the only chance many of the island's strays have, she said.

"There are just a handful of shelters in Puerto Rico and they are overwhelmed," said Driscoll, 40. "So we don't have another choice. It's either adoption here or euthanasia."

The U.S. commonwealth is at the center of an international controversy over how it deals with an estimated 300,000 stray cats and dogs as well as animal-cruelty incidents. The issue was brought to the fore last week when a private animal-control company seized dozens of cats and dogs from a public housing project and hurled them off a bridge. "Pet Massacre in Puerto Rico," read the headlines from Australia to Latin America.

Animal-rescue groups across the country as well as those on the island quickly denounced the killings, while pointing out that it was not an isolated incident. Animal abuse, they say, is rampant in Puerto Rico, and one animal-rights group is calling for a tourism boycott.

"We don't want to bring anybody down," said Ginny Cornett, founder of Hands for Paws, the Palm Beach-based group calling for the boycott. "But if this is what it will take for the Puerto Rican government to pay attention to the problem, so be it."

The negative publicity has caught the attention of some government officials. On Tuesday, Puerto Rico tourism secretary Terestella Gonzalez-Denton called for a meeting with Driscoll and representatives from animal-protection groups to discuss possible solutions.

Hands for Paws and Amigos work together, rescuing dogs from an isolated beach in Yabucoa, a coastal town in eastern Puerto Rico that is a frequent dumping ground for unwanted pets. Among the locals, the stretch of sand is known as "dead dog beach" because the strays are frequently tortured, mutilated, beaten to death and even shot, Driscoll said.

Dr. Rafael Ramos, a veterinarian who treats many of Amigos' rescued animals in his San Juan office, says he frequently sees gruesome cases of abuse.

"There's a sector of our society that has lost respect for life," Ramos said. "Animals are not seen as living beings. Strays are seen as pests."

Most of the dogs that Amigos rescues are flown to U.S. shelters once they are nursed back to health, sterilized and vaccinated. Last year, the organization brought more than 800 dogs to the mainland. Many went to the Humane Society of Broward County in South Florida.

"We get a lot of puppies from Puerto Rico, and those are adopted quickly," said Cherie Wachter, a spokeswoman for that organization. "And that fills a need because if people don't find what they want in a shelter, they'll go to a pet store."

Wachter said her shelter takes puppies only when they have available space and said no animals are euthanized there. The SPCA of Central Florida has a similar policy. Amigos' animals also go to shelters in New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Driscoll is hopeful that things will take a turn for the better on the island.

"We finally have the attention of people that ignored us for the longest time," Driscoll said. "Something good has to come out of this."


Jeannette Rivera-Lyles can be reached at jrivera@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5471.