12/5/2014
Locals In Breeding Competitions With Lassie
SAN JUAN – Animal rights activists, worried about the roughly 200,000 stray dogs living on the streets of Puerto Rico, expect the government to implement a plan to control the abandonment of pets.
“The situation is now worse than ever before,” Marjorie Andino Arenas, vice president of the Mangas al Codo dog-rescue group, told Efe.
“There is too much insensitivity toward these animals,” according to the 28-year-old social worker, who insists on speaking of “abandoned dogs,” because most of those on the streets were left there by their owners.
Dogs roaming free on this island of 3.6 million people have expanded their search for food to the beaches, gathering in packs that scare bathers. Dogs killed or injured by cars are a common sight in the country’s roads.
“People have seized on the streets as if they were landfills where you can dump animals,” said Andino, who became an animal activist 18 years ago alongside her mother, Margie Arenas.
“Most of these dogs were not born on the streets, but they end up there because humans do not comply with the requirements for their care,” Andino said.
The most common breed on Puerto Rico streets is the pit bull.
Andino said that many pit bull owners don’t know how to raise them. Many of the dogs that end up on the streets were trained to fight and have been injected with steroids, leading to health problems.
Under the 2009-2013 administration de Gov. Luis Fortuño, several amendments were made to Law 70, prohibiting the introduction, import, ownership, purchase, breeding, sale or transfer of pit bull dogs or hybrids from pit bull stock.
But a few months after Alejandro Garcia Padilla became governor, the law was abrogated.
Andino said some Puerto Rican veterinary clinics are “very much aware” of the serious problem stray dogs represent and they support the voluntary rescue efforts by offering discounts for the neutering and spaying of adopted dogs.
“We need a campaign to get more support from veterinarians,” Andino said, pointing out that some animal shelters in Puerto Rico kill more than 100 dogs a day. Most of them, she said, had been left at the shelters by their owners.
“People do not understand that cats and dogs are part of the family,” she said.
Andino decried a “lack of awareness, love and sensitivity toward” the creature known as “man’s best friend.”
source
Locals In Breeding Competitions With Lassie
SAN JUAN – Animal rights activists, worried about the roughly 200,000 stray dogs living on the streets of Puerto Rico, expect the government to implement a plan to control the abandonment of pets.“The situation is now worse than ever before,” Marjorie Andino Arenas, vice president of the Mangas al Codo dog-rescue group, told Efe.
“There is too much insensitivity toward these animals,” according to the 28-year-old social worker, who insists on speaking of “abandoned dogs,” because most of those on the streets were left there by their owners.
Dogs roaming free on this island of 3.6 million people have expanded their search for food to the beaches, gathering in packs that scare bathers. Dogs killed or injured by cars are a common sight in the country’s roads.
“People have seized on the streets as if they were landfills where you can dump animals,” said Andino, who became an animal activist 18 years ago alongside her mother, Margie Arenas.
“Most of these dogs were not born on the streets, but they end up there because humans do not comply with the requirements for their care,” Andino said.
The most common breed on Puerto Rico streets is the pit bull.
Andino said that many pit bull owners don’t know how to raise them. Many of the dogs that end up on the streets were trained to fight and have been injected with steroids, leading to health problems.
Under the 2009-2013 administration de Gov. Luis Fortuño, several amendments were made to Law 70, prohibiting the introduction, import, ownership, purchase, breeding, sale or transfer of pit bull dogs or hybrids from pit bull stock.
But a few months after Alejandro Garcia Padilla became governor, the law was abrogated.
Andino said some Puerto Rican veterinary clinics are “very much aware” of the serious problem stray dogs represent and they support the voluntary rescue efforts by offering discounts for the neutering and spaying of adopted dogs.
“We need a campaign to get more support from veterinarians,” Andino said, pointing out that some animal shelters in Puerto Rico kill more than 100 dogs a day. Most of them, she said, had been left at the shelters by their owners.
“People do not understand that cats and dogs are part of the family,” she said.
Andino decried a “lack of awareness, love and sensitivity toward” the creature known as “man’s best friend.”
source
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