Best Bark About Costa Rica:Learning how to say 'Adopt A Dog' in Spanish! (And chasing the cats in Old Town was pretty good excercizin' too!
Worst Woof About Costa Rica: Seeing a stray dog begging for food in the middle lane of a busy intersection- and all the speeding by!
I love the ocean so heading down to Puerto Rico from Texas was a real 'Yee-hahhhhhh' moment. I spent a day with one of the seven or so shelters on the island called Save A Sato. Sato means 'homeless dog' so this organization rescues strays from the streets and gets almost 75% of these dogs adopted out in United States. 3-5% are local adoptions so unless a dog lands up here, it's a pretty dismal disposition for the rest of Puerto Rican dog-kind. Dog welfare is a new 'idea' down here, but thanks to education and a whole lot of passion from founder and woof-workaholic Gloria ( who has not taken ONE day off in 15 years!!), attitudes are improving. With a tear in her eye gloria recounts the moment when she used to work at one of the government shelters and she saw the workers kicking the dogs. She went to the bathroom, looked herself in the eye and in that moment knew that her life would never be the same. It would be dedicated to making the lives for the dogs of Puerto Rico better. Much better! Anyway, thats who I spent the day with in Puerto Rico, and along with a trusted volunteer of 4 years (and thankfully perfect english translation skills), Cybelle Cartagena. I received a full tour of the premises and shared many stories about the dogs they have assisted over the past 15 years since the society began. It was sad seeing all those dogs in such small cages, but really happy knowing that this is only a temporary tight lie before most will head up north and 'bark' in stripes. A special bark of Thanks to Cybelle who spends 2 days a week helping the dogs out here and who really assisted me with my story, and another humungous 'Hooray' for Gloria who hasn't taken ONE day of in 15 years - but who, I might add, isn't complaining. 'I get all my energy from the love I feel for the dogs here'. 'Thats what keeps me going'. What a lady!
Sofia is Puerto Rico's Sassy "Oscar'
Say goodbye surgery and hello rehab. Sofia is a 2 year old chiWOWa mix with who has fully recovered from a motor accident. She loves the gang at Save A sato, but 6 months is enough! She promises to never bark or misbehave-in exchange for a promise of unconditional love — and no more traffic scares! If you, or anyone you know in Puerto Rico or the US of A would like Sofia on your sofa, please contact Cybelle at 787 672-4686 - or email: cybellecartagena@mac.com
OUR SPONSERS:
6-10 November
PS. Great footage takes woof! It may take
a few days before it's up and panting
BARK ABOUT IT [1 Barks Back]
I am going to nominate a dog at every shelter I visit. This will be this Oscar's 'Oscar'.
Click on the photo to find out where it comes from and track its progress at finding a home, sweet bone!(Better yet you can adopt this dog!)
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