In Pursuit of Doggie Happiness

Rip Poncha and Nena...

This past weekend has been a very tragic weekend in the world of Island Dog.  Four years ago, we created the Red Collar Project in Las Croabas, Puerto Rico.  IT was the first project of it's kind in Puerto Rico...let alone the Caribbean.  We had NO idea that we would go island wide with the project.  Since the beginning of the project we have had over 300 Red Collar Dogs. 

Our first two Red Collar Dogs were Poncha and Nena.  They stole our hearts with their sweet way that included kisses and the wagging of the butt when they walked.  We would of rescued them four years ago but the neighborhood claimed them and everyone took care of them.  SOOOO much so we moved them out of the park and to the house of our Los Machos feeder, Lolly's house.  They lived at Lolly's house for the past three years with freedom to roam as they please, visit friends, and swim in the Lagoon.  On Friday of of last week Poncha and Nena went missing.  Lolly went searching.  She took a boat through the lagoon and went for walks throughout the neighborhood looking for the dogs.  Saturday morning Nena showed up, layed down and died.  Poncha followed her, layed down and died this morning in the veterinarian office.  They both were poisoned, along with another Red Collar dog Tico. 

Tattooed in Nena and Poncha's ears were the number 1 & 2.  Poncha was our offical first Red Collar Dog and now she is gone.  She is the mother of 11 puppies that we have since adopted out...you may actually own one of Poncha's pups. Nena was number 2.  They were such special girls.  They were the inspiration for the Red Collar Project.  They gave me hope and motivation everyday when I saw them happily playing in the ocean and lagoon.  They made me believe in the Red Collar Project.  They loved their life as a free island dog and everyone in Las Croabas loved them.  I can't imagine the heartless, evil person that would harm them...but Dr.D confirmed that it would be impossible for them to have gotten so sick without intent.  They were poisoned with a chemical that kills in less then 3 minutes.  Poncha fought hard and survived 2 days.

They both will be missed and never forgotten.  RIP girls, you will forever be in my heart and in the heart of the lives you touched...you inspired a mission and a dream. 

 

 

 

 

 

Isabel and Sadie are looking for their forever homes

Back in late December, Islabel, and her two puppies were dumped onto Los Machos Beach.  All three were amazing dogs, but with the holiday crazy we had no place for them or the funds to send them to the states.  The airlines have recently upped the prices of pets traveling again...and Walmart has stopped carrying dog kennels.  So we are now forced to pay high prices at speciality stores.  Beyond that we were all biting our nails to get Isabel and her pups to safety.  Sadly, before we could take them, her son was hit by a car.  Shortly after we had no choice but to rescue Isabel and Sadie, even if it meant putting them in my small apartment.  The girls are now safe, happy and very healthy in Maryland.  They are looking for homes and are eager to please!  Both love people and are exceptionally friendly!!  Isabel is about 18 months, black lab, about 60 pounds.  She is house broken, likes cats and very easy to love.  All Isabel needs is love and kisses...ohh and she loves to eat!  Sadie, her daughter, is 6 months, and a real baby doll!  She is having a growth spurt now and weighs about 25 pounds.  She may grow to be like her mom, about 50 pounds.  She is great with everyone, kids, dogs, cats, the works!

If you are interested in either of the two girls please contact us at info@islanddog.org!  Can't Adopt?  Please consider donating so that we may continue to help dogs like Isabel and Sadie!  Click here to donate today!

Isabel

Sadie

 

 

 

ROCK OUT for Island Dog!

JOIN US on March 10 to ROCK OUT FOR ISLAND DOG!!!!

Click on the photo for more infomation!!

Special Thanks for helping us save over 300 lives in 2011!

I don't know where the month of January went, but it's gone and I still have not told you all how grateful and appreciative I am for all your support, thoughtfulness, and compassion in 2011.  So let me first start off by saying Happy New Year!  Simply put...2011 was a great year for Island Dog because of YOU.  There is not a day that goes by that I don't wake up, look in the mirror and feel blessed to know all of you because you are not only helping the amazing dogs of Puerto Rico but you are also helping me fulfill a lifetime dream, of helping the millions of homeless street dogs...not only in Puerto Rico but throughout the Caribbean and world.  I was a young woman with a dream.  I put that dream out there, found you and now here we are today, literally changing a society, a culture, with education and spay and neuter. 

Sounds simple. Far from the truth.  I feel like I'm climbing up a tunnel, but there is light.  Our spay and neuter program is making changes in towns like Luquillo and Fajaro that are astonishing.  IT's soo SIMPLE!  I drive around these towns were dogs use to line the streets, I use to walk over dogs to get into the grocery store or post office, but now I can happily say that I can go to my local shopping center and not want to cry!  Our programs are working and YOUR generous support has gotten us here...to a much better future for the homeless dogs of the Caribbean.

That being said, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being so generous and thoughtful.  YOU are responsible for these changes.  It doesn't matter if you gave $30.00 or $3,000...that's all relative.  What matters is that we all come together and support Island Dog's work.  I think one of the most incredible aspects of Island Dog is that we are not a bandage organization, we actually are taking a problem and creating realistic solutions.  We are making history, we are changing a culture, teaching right and wrong.  Providing education and providing a successful spay and neuter program that is opening doors to proper pet care.  WE thought BIG...WE GAVE GREAT HOPE .. AND you listened and reached out and we are making amazing progresses.

Thank you seems so little but you truly are changing lives and we all thank you for your support!  I hope that 2012 will bring more great progresses!  How can we guarantee that?  You can help us create more awareness, share us with your friends/family/coworkers!  Like our FACEBOOK page, donate meds/supplies, and please... donate financially...to help us continue our work!  AMAZING THINGS ARE HAPPENING AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!  THANK YOU!!!!!!!!  <3 kt

2011 Progresses

Over 300 dogs were rescued and sent to the US to find forever homes!

Over 1,000 dogs and cats were spayed and neutered! 

4 more Red Collar Projects were added!  Check it out on www.theredcollarproject.com

Over 100,000 pounds of dog and cat food was distributed throughout Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands!

 

 

 

 

The strays of Puerto Rico: Los Machos Beach, where a dog’s life is no kind of paradise

by John Woestendiek via www.ohmidog.com

This excerpt from the award-winning documentary ”100,000″ focuses on the work of Island Dog, an animal welfare organization in Puerto Rico founded by Baltimore native Katie Block.

Block left Baltimore in 1999, looking for paradise, she admits. On her first day in Puerto Rico she came across a homeless dog and brought it home. When she  took it to a vet and explained how she had found it, he laughed at her.

She quickly learned the stray she’d found was just one of thousands — and that many of them spent their lives at a particular beach, called Los Machos, where they’d either been abandoned, or, sometimes, born from those previously abandoned.

She tried to do what she could. At her bartending job at a resort, she persuaded guests to take dogs home to the states. She enlisted her parents help in getting dogs shipped to new homes. Making a small dent in a very big problem, and swamped by veterinary bills, she, after three years, threw in the towel — but only temporarily, as it turned out.

In 2002, Block returned to Baltimore. She finished college and ended up in Puerto Rico again, where in 2006, she established Island Dog.

Today, as the founder and director of the organization, she works full-time to rescue dogs, find them homes in the states, and supply strays with food and medical attention — all while focused on longer term goals.

Those include teaching responsible pet ownership, expanding the practice of spaying and neutering, and increasing awareness around the world about  the cruelties animal face in U.S. territories in the Caribbean. Her hope is to make Puerto Rico more animal friendly, and get an animal education program started at every school in the territory.

Island Dog estimates that 98 percent of the dogs that end up in Puerto Rico’s few under-equipped and under-funded shelters are euthanized; and that about 500 dogs and cats die a day.

Only about 10 percent of Puerto Rico’s pet population ever visit a veterinarian, it’s estimated.

In the documentary “100,000,” which we’re featuring all week on ohmidog!, director Juan Agustin Marquez captured the scene at Los Machos beach, and a lot of the work Island Dog does — feeding and medicating homeless animals, rescuing and rehabilitating strays, and finding them homes in the states.

The organization also offer clinics for free or low cost spay/neuter services and vaccinations, provides a humane education program for children that encourages kindness to animals and responsible pet ownership, and supplies medication and food to other animal welfare organizations working in the U.S. Caribbean.

You can find Island Dog listed with our other animal welfare friends on our rightside column, and you can visit its website and learn how to donate to the cause here.

(Photos courtesy of Island Dog)