Don't forget about "Sato Blend" coffee!

Hands for Paws "Sato Blend" Organic Fairtrade Shade Grown Coffee

Good Dog Coffee in partnership with "Hands for Paws" ("Manos por Patas" in Spanish) is releasing this line of coffee in support of dog rescue and adoption efforts in Puerto Rico. A portion of the proceeds from the purchase of this coffee goes directly to "Hands for Paws" a charitable 501 (c)3 registered organization.

The Coffee: You are buying a bag of Custom-roasted USDA organic, fairtrade, shade grown coffee! As with any of our coffees it will be roasted only after you order it. It doesn't get any fresher! Remember, that you decide the roasting and grinding levels. At checkout please select between Light, City, Vienna, and French Roast and select between Whole Beans, Coarse, Medium, or Fine grinding levels. This blend is 75% Nicaraguan Selva Negra beans and 25% Bolivian Cumbre Supremo beans.

Hands for Paws: "Manos por Patas" is a non-profit organization (501(c)3 registered) dedicated to ending the suffering of stray dogs (called “satos” by the locals) roaming Puerto Rico, desperately in need of medical attention, food and water, and a loving touch. Their program involves providing sterilizations to the dogs as well as medical attention and vaccinations. With your help Hands for Paws will help broaden the program to provide free or low-cost spay and neuter services for all pets in Puerto Rico. They are also beginning a public awareness program that will involve radio and television spots to increase awareness about the cruelty imposed on these animals and will take programs into the schools to educate children about animal cruelty and ethical treatment of animals.

Featured Dog: The beautiful dog featured in this label is a "sato" rescued from a beach in Yabucoa, PR. Her name is actually "Sato" too! Her name is honoring her heritage and a reminder that many of cool looking love giving dogs like her still need our help! According to her owners, Sato is "the light of their lives." Help more dogs like Sato by buying this shade grown, organic & fairtrade coffee!

GO HERE TO ORDER TODAY:

Good Dog Coffee Micro-Roasters

Model project for Puerto Rico

I took this article from the Spay-Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP) based in Houston, Texas. THIS is the model that can be used in Puerto Rico. Read the article below and I'm calling SNAP right now!


Turks & Caicos Islands - Street Dog Project

In 2001, SNAP was asked by the Pegasus Foundation to assist the Turks and Caicos Islands with finding solutions to its stray dog overpopulation. The Turks and Caicos Islands, also known as TCI, are a British Overseas Territory located 575 miles southeast of Miami. TCI is the most populated island of Providenciales. It was estimated that there were as many as 1,000 stray dogs in TCI at the time. Many of these strays were essentially wild animals who had never been socialized with humans.

The Problem

There are no vaccination or licensing requirements for dogs or cats living in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The TCI island of Providenciales, also known as Provo, had only been commercially developed during the previous 30 years, so the problem of stray dogs was relatively new. Dogs roamed the island in search of food, destroying fragile ecosystems in the process. They ravaged endangered shore birds and their nests, iguanas, and turtles and turtle nests. Island residents reported dog bites and dog damage to personal property. Islanders and visitors alike expressed fear of being chased by dogs or contracting diseases from them. Many tourists reported the wild dogs as a negative feature of vacationing in the Turks and Caicos. The problem was brought to the national and international forefront when a television correspondent was attacked by a dog at a resort. This attack focused the attention of the TCI hotel owners association, local government, and concerned residents on the issue of stray and feral dogs.

While feral dogs attack or threaten resort visitors and threaten the tourism industry, it is not often publicized how these dogs also compromise the lives of the local people. It is hard for most to imagine living in a neighborhood where one is afraid to walk at night for fear of being attacked and afraid during the day of having one’s children bitten. It is hard to comprehend what it is like to have dozens of dogs barking and fighting outside one’s window all night, every night. Tourism is an essential part of the TCI economy, but local residents were just as eager to quickly deal with the problems created by the dogs.

In previous years, the government employed a dog catcher who would trap or dart stray dogs and destroy them. This system failed when fishermen stole traps and the stray dogs became "trap wise." Beginning in 2000, a veterinarian was hired by the government for $100 a day to shoot stray dogs. The veterinarian hunted for stray dogs on the island three days a week, shooting an average of six to eight dogs each trip. Animals running at-large on the airport grounds or the sanitary landfill were fair game and were shot at-will. The operators of many of the resorts on the island also asked the vet to shoot stray populations on their properties. Animals who were not killed instantly by gunfire suffered long and agonizing deaths. Besides the danger posed to humans by accidental shooting, dead dogs were left where they are shot to decompose, creating additional environmental and health concerns.

When a hotel was threatened with a serious lawsuit from a tourist who was bitten by a wild dog, and one airline refused to land there until the dogs were eliminated from the airstrip, the government turned to the only program that looked like an immediate solution to the problem: introduction of Canine Distemper to eradicate the dogs. Canine Distemper is an indiscriminate virus that can affect companion animals as well as stray or feral animals. Dogs infected with distemper display red, runny eyes and nasal discharge. In later stages of the disease, they often collapse in the streets as vomiting, fever, and diarrhea develop, followed by various disorders of the nervous system. This disease takes time to carry out its cycle in infected dogs and the virus, once introduced to an island, can never be eradicated or managed.

While the introduction of Canine Distemper would have eliminated stray dogs, the immense animal suffering endured and the possibility of cross-contamination into other species caused international outrage. With funding from the Pegasus Foundation and a collaboration with Global Wildlife Resources, SNAP assembled a team to assess the stray dog problem and propose to the government alternative, humane solutions that centered around education and prevention.

The Project Solution

SNAP and Global Wildlife Resources (GWR) traveled to Provo during the summer of 2001 to assess the situation and develop a proposed solution to present to the Turks and Caicos government. The resulting proposal recommended a multi-faceted approach to humanely ending dog overpopulation. The SNAP/GWR proposal combined community outreach and education activities; humane trapping and euthanasia of wild, aggressive dogs; a trap/neuter/release program for community dogs; and a free sterilization program for owned animals. The plan incorporated the efforts of the Turks and Caicos Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which operates various programs that include spay/neuter, humane education, and foster and adoption of dogs.

SNAP’s primary responsibility under the proposal was a month-long spay/neuter clinic, which would involve bringing to Provo veterinary teams skilled in high volume, high quality spay-neuter surgery. The teams would consist of one veterinarian and two animal health technicians, each brought to the island for a week at a time during a four-week period. Each team would perform approximately 150 surgeries each week, resulting in a total of 600 spay/neuter surgeries being completed during the month. Volunteers on the island would support the medical team. Two existing private veterinary clinics on the island would serve as facilities for spay-neuter clinic surgeries. All surgery suites would be sterile and veterinarians would have the right to refuse to perform any surgery for any health reason.

The Program

To encourage dog guardianship, free dog collars were distributed to identify dogs connected with people.

Many of SNAP’s recommendations were included in the government-funded program that resulted from the initial consultation project. In mid- November 2001, a team of animal handling experts traveled to Providenciales for one month to kick off the stray dog control program. Participating organizations included the Turks and Caicos SPCA, Global Wildlife Resources, the Humane Society International/Humane Society of the United States, and the Pegasus Foundation. The resulting program improved the lives of both people and animals.

The team conducted public education every day through media interviews, school visits, community presentations, and informal interactions with people they encountered in the community. Team members handed out free dog collars so that island residents could identify their own dogs. As collared animals were shuttled to and from the veterinarians for sterilization, it was the first time the people witnessed their government acknowledging and caring for their dogs.

An entirely new capture method was designed: the colony capture pen. Animal handling and euthanasia of strays was conducted with calmness, respect, and care. Both children and adults embraced the methods and actions. Feral dogs responded remarkably well to the capture pens, casually walking in and out as the pens lay idle, and often responding to their capture by eating the table scraps which had baited them in.

In less than three weeks, a total of 362 free-ranging dogs were captured. Sixty of these dogs were collared and transported to and from the veterinarian for

sterilization. Children applauded as animals were returned. During this period, the Turks and Caicos SPCA publicized their free spay-neuter program, leading to an additional 112 dogs being sterilized. Three hundred of the captured free-ranging dogs were uncollared and presumed feral, thus they were euthanized. Dogs transmit skin diseases to the children, cause property damage, and kill family dogs. While regretable, euthanasia was an important tool on Providenciales for providing immediate relief to pain and suffering.

The Outcome

The cultural change in animal stewardship and improvement in people’s lives continued beyond the first month kickoff phase of the program. The Turks and Caicos SPCA trained animal control officers to continue the capture of free-ranging dogs. The TCSPCA also provides the following services to the community:

Distribution of free dog collars: More than 1200 free dog collars have been distributed in Provo so that any dog with a connection to people will have a collar.

Any dogs caught in the capture program with collars are spayed or neutered and returned to the location where they were caught.

Free Spay/Neuter: When dogs with guardians are collared, the TCSPCA goes into neighborhoods to collect them for spay/neuter, takes them to the vet for surgery, and return them with information on caring for dogs. During the first 14 months of the program, the TCSPCA spayed or neutered nearly 500 dogs belonging to island residents.

Educational Outreach: The TCSPCA has developed an educational curriculum for both primary and secondary schools focusing on responsible animal care. All public and private schools on Provo have been visited by TCSPCA volunteer educators.

Fostering/Adoption: The TCSPCA has fostered and found homes for more than 100 animals since late 2001. The TCSPCA has 10 foster homes who take in animals of all kinds sometimes for a month or more until adoption homes can be found. The SPCA has also arranged for animals to be transported to adoption homes internationally.

See online article here

Talk about a lucky Penny!

This little beauty is named Penny and she just might be the luckiest sato EVER! You can read her whole story below but she is yet another sato who broke the hearts of tourists who were on the island to relax and take in the tropical beauty but were confronted with the rampant horror of the condition of animals on the island.

This is the second couple in as many weeks that have appealed to me for help in rescuing an animal in need and, luckily, they have succeeded in getting their chosen one to safety. That is a wonderful feeling for all involved, most notably the little sato.

But does ANYONE see the insanity here??? These are just ordinary people, not of exceptional financial means or famous celebrities or brilliant scholars (at least not as far as I'm aware). They are just regular people with regular hearts - regular hearts that all people should have - regular hearts with compassion - not those irregular hearts devoid of such that can see these animals in such pain and torture every day and ignore them as if they were some kind of vermin.

HOW MANY TIMES AND IN HOW MANY WAYS DOES THE GOVERNMENT OF THAT POTENTIALLY IDYLLIC ISLAND NEED PROOF THAT THERE IS A REAL AND SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM THERE???!!! What more do they need than people coming for a working vacation that have to spend the last days of their vacation and the last dollars to be spent on silly t-shirts and fruity cocktails driving frantically around the island searching for the right dog kennel and sitting in veterinary waiting rooms and hoping they don't get mange from the dog they are rescuing?

And what do these people tell their friends and colleagues once they return home? They tell them "Don't go to Puerto Rico unless you need a new dog and want to have your heart ripped out of your chest everywhere you turn your head!". Word gets around, my friends. And there are some very riled up and angry people who will make certain word gets around. For a Caribbean island whose main source of income is tourism, negatively affecting tourists doesn't seem to be an affective marketing strategy to me.

The downfall is going to come out of ignorance and hubris and it will not be my fault, or the dogs' faults or the people who have NORMAL hearts faults. It will be the fault of the Puerto Rican government who refuses to act in any honorable and conscientious manner. The non-action of the government will be THEIR fault and whatever negative results befall them, I feel no sorrow for them.

Now you may read the letter from Clint and Jennifer who rescued the adorable Penny. They are in the Boston area and are looking for a home for her because they are not allowed to have dogs in their building.

I traveled to Puerto Rico last week for a work conference, and my girlfriend Jen came with me. I was scheduled to have meetings in San Juan from Tuesday through Thursday. After that we planned to take a road trip to the south side of El Yunque to stay at a b&b in the rainforest for the weekend.

As we left San Juan, we kept seeing more and more dogs, and they kept looking more and more decrepit. It quickly became clear that the dogs we were seeing were strays and not scraggly pets. I was shocked at how many there were. In every parking lot there were several. On every street or highway shoulder there were more.

The first night in El Yunque, we saw the saddest dog yet. She was skinny and weak, skinnier than any dog I'd ever seen. She was limping heavily, and she had dangling, swollen teats [forgive me if that's not the correct term; my father is a dairy farmer, and that's the term for cows' milk-producing nipples] so I knew she had puppies.

She got out of the road, and we drove by, but it was an awful sight. We went down the mountain that night, and didn't see her. When we came back, at around the spot where we'd last seen her, there was what appeared to be some debris in the middle of the road. It surprised us when it moved, and the skeletal mom led one of her puppies to the side of the road where her other pup waited behind a junked car.

The image of the mom and the weak little puppies still haunts me. We didn't have any food to give them, but resolved to return with some the next day. Unfortunately, we only ever got a quick glimpse of them again, and I fear the worst.

That haunting sight got me fired up. It felt ineffectual, but I started looking around the internet for information on stray dogs in Puerto Rico. I found Hands For Paws among others. I took down all the numbers for shelters and animal welfare organizations that I could, at the time thinking we would try to find a place for the skinny mom and pups near the b&b.

The next day, we took what food we could from breakfast - just some hard-boiled eggs and pastries - and left El Yunque for a day trip. We didn't see the skinny mom, so we kept our food scraps. Later we stopped for gas in Naguabo. The rental car sounded funny, so I checked the oil while Jen tried to feed the 3 or 4 satos roaming the parking lot. They were all pretty sad; skinny, with wounds and lame legs. They cringed and ran away when Jen got close.

I turned back to the car, and lost track of Jen. When she returned, she was carrying a filthy, adorable little puppy, not quite newborn, but tiny. Her mom - who would be named Penny - trotted behind. The puppy collapsed against Jen's chest. The mom never took her eyes off the puppy, but she wasn't aggressive at all. She also seemed reasonably intact, by sato standards; all her legs and both her eyes worked okay. She was very friendly and wiggly.

We sat with them for a bit on the curb, and got them some dog food from a store nearby. The mom ate a bit, but the pup looked too young for solid food. The mom especially was extremely sweet and affectionate. She never stopped wagging and wiggling, and gave us plenty of kisses. She even left us alone with the pup while she ran away to retrieve a pastry we'd tried to give her earlier. We felt terrible leaving them, but we couldn't take them with us to the b&b. We called all the animal welfare numbers in my phone, mostly to no avail (it was a weekend) and decided to check back up with the dogs later.

When we returned that night, we found the mom and pup curled up more or less where we left them. The mom seemed to recognize us, and was as friendly as ever. We had been debating the ethics and morality of taking the dogs with us to America all day, but that night we resolved to do something, even just taking them to a shelter in Puerto Rico. A slim chance is better than no chance, we figured. The next day, Sunday, was our last in Puerto Rico. We would do something then.

When we returned to the gas station on Sunday, we saw about the saddest sight either of us hope to ever see. The puppy was dead, on its side in the middle of the parking lot. People and other dogs milled about, seemingly oblivious. The puppy's mom stayed by the dead pup, futilely sniffing, licking, and nosing it.

It was too much. We had previously regarded the idea of taking a dog home as too crazy, despite making some preparations ('just in case', we told ourselves). But this was it. Jen moved the puppy out of the way, to a grassy area nearby. I covered up the back seat of the rental car with some towels, and we lured the mom in with some pieces of a hot dog. In a few minutes, we were speeding down the highway toward San Juan.

The afternoon was a whirlwind. Our flights left in the early evening, and there wasn't much time. We saw a great vet, Dr Osmar Rivera at the Condado Veterinary Hospital in Santurce. He and his staff were all excellent and extremely compassionate. On very short notice, Dr. Rivera checked out the dog, then gave her some vaccinations and a health certificate.

After that, we sped around, gathering supplies: a kennel, water bowls and bottles, newspaper, etc, etc. We made it to the airport in the nick of time, and Penny - once she was on the plane, we relaxed our guards enough to give her a name - came home with us.

She is beyond sweet. She doesn't bark, and mostly likes to wiggle and be petted. She doesn't mind sleeping in her kennel, and handles a leash well. She's cautious around other dogs and people, but doesn't growl or show any aggressive body language. She's had a bath, and a nice walk in the park, and is off to the vet shortly.

For the record, rescuing Penny feels great. I have no regrets, but I'm not sure I would recommend my experience to just anyone. The last couple of days were extremely stressful and sad. I hope lots of other people rescue satos, but it's not a job one should undertake lightly.

I should also add that none of this would be possible without the help and encouragement of Ginny and Hands For Paws (you've been so helpful), Donna and Save A Sato, Dr Rivera, a sympathetic customer service rep at Delta airlines, and many others. Thank you all.

Finally, Penny is in need of a home. We got in so late that we couldn't take her to a foster home, so we smuggled her into our place. We can't keep her here, as our lease does not allow dogs. Any leads on foster or permanent homes would be very much appreciated - email us at adopt.penny.from.pr@gmail.com.

Pups posted on Pets Alive blog

Take a look at the recent posting on the Pets Alive blog. It's called "Old Souls" and is about our little angels who arrived at their shelter on March 2. We are all so thankful to everyone at Pets Alive and Sidewalk Angels Foundation for what they did for our 7 babies and for what they do every day for all the other innocents in need. (Photo from the Pets Alive blog page)

Puerto Rican dog in the snow?????

I got this awesome email from Chrissy with these pictures of our darling little Hero (aka Megan) on her first romp in the snow! Chrissy said she took right to it - must've thought it was just cold beach sand or something! Read below Chrissy's email on the experience. (As a note, Boom Boom is a little sato Chrissy rescued from Puerto Rico about a year or so ago.)

I went to Pets Alive yesterday to check up on our girl. She was very excited to see me (that made me sooo happy!).

I took her for a nice long walk in the woods with my two kids, Basher and Boom Boom. Hero and Boom Boom bonded immediately - must be a Puerto Rican thing. Basher is his own little spirit. He said "hi" then wasn't really interested (that's a Jack Russell thing!)

Roy is safe!!!

Sandra was finally able to get the handsome Roy from the beach on Thursday! We are all so relieved that he is finally safe! Sandra's been trying to get him for almost 2 weeks but whenever she is there with help (her husband, Angel), Roy apparently has decided that would be a good day to go for a long walk and was nowhere to be found! But on this day, he finally decided he'd like to take little ride and be rescued!

Take a look at him in those pictures! The second one is of him with Megan (newly named "Hero" because she lured us all into rescuing not just her but her sister, Macy and her mom, Madison) - looks like Roy is being that silly uncle who tickles you until you laugh so hard you nearly piddle in your britches! The third one is of Roy with Sugar (her original name was Tracy but we renamed her the name of a fighter - Sugar Ray Leonard - because she had that horrible hernia that needed emergency surgery and she needed a fighter name to get her through it. BTW, she's doing AWESOME!). Sandra said Sugar LOVED Roy and used to follow him all over the beach. Here she is giving silly uncle Roy a big smacker on the lips for being such a lovable guy - and I'm certain he deserved it!

Roy went to Dr. Brito's office where it was found he had hookworms and sarcoptic mange (yuck - that's the contagious one). But the most awesome news is that he is HEARTWORM NEGATIVE!!! That is absolutely unbelievable since he's about 3-4 years old and has obviously had no recent veterinary care! Both Sandra and I had said we'd stake our paychecks on him having heartworm but we are soooooo glad to be proven wrong on that! (And for me, no big deal since I am STILL unemployed right now! not sure whether Sandra cares to hold up her end of the bet!). So I'll take hookworms and mange over heartworm ANY DAY!!! Oh, and the people at the vet's office say he's an excellent patient! He's got a great temperment (well, he IS a lab, after all!) and is just super sweet and easy to handle - all 76 pounds of him!

Roy does have some kind of potentially serious problem with his hip or back leg. He's limping terribly on it. Dr. Brito will take an x-ray on Monday morning and give me his opinion on that. We may be looking at orthopedic surgery for Roy but hopefully it will be something that can be fixed and there is an excellent orthopedic veterinary surgeon on the island who gives us decent discounts and we'll just get our Roy to Dr. Rivera if need be.

I'll post on Roy's condition once I hear from the vet on Monday. And Sandra is going to take a ride up to visit him next week and get some good pictures of him since he's all cleaned up and looking spiffy now - not all icky and dirty from the beach. But for now, we know that dear Roy is finally safe and will sleep each night on warm and dry blankets with a belly full of nummies and in his little doggie heart will know he is loved and is being taken care of. That feels good to us all.

All the puppies made it to New York safe and sound!

I don't have pictures yet but I have this great on-the-spot report from Chrissy who was in the midst of all the madness in getting all the wee ones sent and received in New York yesterday. She sent out the email below so I just pasted her text below for you all to have an update. Once I get pictures and more info on how the babies are doing, I'll post that as well.

I also want to add my thanks to Barbara, Mary, Carlos, Luis, and Nilsa - these are the people who do all the "grunt" work like transporting puppies and arranging escort flights and bringing kennels and fostering puppies - and they are ones without whom none of this would be possible. You guys are amazing and are my heroes as well.

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted you all to know that our darling babies all made it to NY safely and everyone is doing well.

It was a very emotional day for me - we sent Macy, Jenny, Jack, Jillian, Casey and Stacey this morning with American Airlines. The fabulous Kerry and Matt from Pets Alive swooped in and picked them up this afternoon and they are now settling in and getting acquainted with the snow at the sanctuary in Upstate New York.

I was crying like a baby when I was helping the American Airlines personnel check the crates of each pup. Even the passengers who were standing on line waiting to check in were asking me if I was OK. I was just SO HAPPY that we all came together and now each of these beautiful babies will never live in fear again, will always have warm food in their belly and a safe place to lay their head.

Hero (previously known as Megan) flew with me on Continental this afternoon and then came home with me to Brooklyn for the night. What a trouper! Hero is recovering from being spayed a few days ago and has a leg injury. But her tail never stops wagging. Her first NY meal was filet mignon hand fed to her by my husband, Bobby. Now she is curled up in a king size down quilt at our feet and looks as snug as a bug in a rug.

So a huge thank you to:

- Sandra for being an angel for these wonderful little dogs and taking care of them every single day. These are 7 that you will no longer have to worry about.

- Lila and David for making a wrong turn at Dead Dog Beach and becoming instant advocates (and very generous supporters) of these dogs.

- Mari, Ellen, Juan and the "100,000" crew for telling us 'Hero's story' - and donating so now she and her sister, Macy and very soon her Mum will have forever homes.

- Kerry, Kerri and everyone at Pets Alive for taking in our precious cargo, never saying no and always being so happy to help.

- Maria, Rob and Marisol and the Sidewalk Angels Foundation for stepping in to help little Sugar (who is still in PR recovering from very serious surgery) Hero and all the Dead Dog Beach dogs.

And last but by no means least, Ginny. I know that sometimes you must wonder if all the heartache and stress is worth it. All I can say is all the good karma that you have thrown out into the universe over the last five years of your rescue efforts is coming back to you. Be prepared to be hit by the good karma freight train because it is heading in your direction and it's picking up steam........: )

It has been very inspirational working so closely with you all on these particular rescues and I hope will can all continue to make a difference for the dogs of Puerto Rico.

Now I'm going to have a very large cocktail and snuggle down with Hero because she looks so cozy. Sorry Bobby ; )

My love to you all, Chrissy