The faces of rescue

There are so many dogs in Puerto Rico that need forever homes. At Amigos de los Animales there are dogs of all shapes, sizes, colours and breed mixtures. Please share with your friends and family the organizations website if anyone is looking to adopt a new four-legged member into their family. American Airlines generously provides ADLA with a low cost transportation option to get the adorable pups to their new home. I have added a link on the right hand side that will direct you to their website, but have included here some of the many beautiful faces currently awaiting new homes:

Ángel de los animales

On any given day at ADLA there is one light that shines brighter than any other and that is Bethzaida, the only paid member of the team. Starting each day with a chorus of excited howls on her arrival, the dogs absolutely adore her. 'Betsy' as she is known to everyone here, although diminutive in stature is a powerhouse behind the cleaning, feeding and care of all the four legged residents. With one clear command she can silence the entire chorus. She can wrangle even the biggest dog into it's kennel by her own tender, playful method.While inside the house on a coffee break, she keeps tabs on what's going out in the yard, recognizing each dog individually by it's bark - an amazing feat, in my one week, I had difficulty remembering more than a dozen or so names, let alone the sound each dog made! Betsy is an eternally cheerful and dedicated member of the team, singing and dancing her way through the work day, her love of animals is always evident - and they all love her in return.

Veterinary Day

Dr Jose Cruz and his amazing team spent the whole of Tuesday at Amigos de los Animales. The team arrived early to set up for what was going to be a long and busy day. Each of the 96 dogs here received updates or initial treatment on vaccinations for Rabies, Bordetella and Distemper and also were tested for Heartworm and Ehrlichia chaffeensis - a mosquito born parasite, similar to Lyme Tick disease. The team work diligently and quickly, each dog having a medical check for overall condition, dental assessment and nails clipped if required. Some of the dogs were perfect patients, while some really did not enjoy their visit with the vet and did their very best to escape from the treatment table!

Dr Cruz is a regular visitor to ADLA often bringing his mobile surgery van to carry out spaying, neutering or sadly euthanization when required. He recently received international recognition for his humanitarian work.

Cleaning Day

Saturday is cleaning day and extra volunteers are on hand to assist with the task of cleaning all of the sleeping crates. Raymond, an 11th Grade student plans to attend Veterinary School on St Kitts. Adri, Ina and Neda were in full swing and I just had to try and keep up with them as we all cleaned out the crates and dragged then out onto the patio, where each one was scrubbed, rinsed and dried, before being stacked again and lined with fresh newspaper sheets. The pups were out of the way, either at the side or back of the house to give us room to work.
The high schools in Puerto Rico have a community service component to the curriculum and some of the local kids come to ADLA to help out. Some, like Sebastian, who I met, come back during college break to lend a hand whenever they can.