Success--from the Galapagos to Samoa
By Sharon St. Joan, Best Friends NetworkIn the Dominican Republic, on Monday, an evening reception brought together people from all over the Caribbean and beyond to get to know each other before the Caribbean Animal Welfare Conference formally began the next day.
Before moving to the Dominican Republic, Emma Clifford’s group, Animal Balance, was spaying/neutering dogs and cats in the Galapagos Islands. Since starting to work there in 2004, they have achieved the spaying/neutering of a whopping 96% of the dogs and cats on the islands! At first they were returning to the Galapagos two to three times a year. Now they go once a year to keep up with any four-legged newcomers.
A sea lion comes to the spay/neuter campaignThe spay/neuter campaign not only helps the dogs and the cats, it helps the wildlife too. With fewer domestic animals running loose, there’s a lot more room for wildlife.
In one case, a sea lion was a direct beneficiary of the spay/neuter program. No, the sea lion did not need spaying or neutering, but he had become accidentally entangled in a fisherman’s net. The netting was cutting into his neck when he was brought to their team in the hope that he could be helped.
On the Animal Balance team there just happened to be a wildlife vet with the Park Service in Ecuador, who was able to perform surgery to remove the painful netting from the sea lion. In just two days, the sea lion was looking and feeling so much better that he was releasable.
If the Animal Balance team had not been there, not only would the wildlife vet not have been available, but also all the anesthesia and antibiotics that were being used for same-day release of spay/neuter patients would not have been available either. As it was though the sea lion got just the right treatment, was released, and swam happily away.
Now Emma Clifford and Animal Balance have arrived in Cabrera, on the northeast tip of the Dominican Republic. Dr. Nelson Medina, who lives there and had been struggling alone to help the animals, commented, when he first met them, “It’s so good that someone’s come to help! I can’t do it by myself!”
Animal Balance puts in place training for those local vets who are used to doing only large animals and who do not have experience performing spay/neuter operations. They are being trained to carry on the much-need work of spay/neuter after Animal Balance has moved on.
“Those aren’t my dogs!”Starting on St. Patrick’s Day, Animal Balance spent the last two weeks of March on an intensive spay/neuter blitz. With 23 volunteers, four vets and five vet techs, they spayed/neutered 560 dogs! Most of their volunteers tend to come from Norway, the rest of Europe, Canada, and the U.S. Best Friends gave a grant to cover the anesthesia and pain medication. Among the other sponsors were the Edith Goode Trust and the Pegasus Foundation.
During the two-week campaign many people brought their animals; some even arrived on motorcycles with cats in their t-shirts.
One gentleman had been very reluctant to have his male dogs neutered. Emma remembers that his backyard was filled with lots of trees, when she and a friend had gone by to visit him, on several occasions over the course of a year, to talk with him about getting his dogs neutered. He had three small black and white dogs—all male—all unkempt “mop” dogs with their fur going in all directions. The visitors explained to him that not only would the dogs be healthier and live longer when they were neutered, but also they could have a haircut at the same time and would be much cooler.
Finally the man agreed. The dogs came back late in the day, having been fixed and groomed. The man took a look at them, and cried out in dismay, “Those aren’t my dogs!” The three dogs that were returned to him were only one third the size of the dogs that had been taken from his house that morning! Finally, he realized his mistake! They were really his own dogs, but they’d been suffering in the heat for years from never having been groomed. Understanding at last, with tears in his eyes, he said, “Thank you so much!”
After that he had a great many visits from his neighbors—all were very fascinated by the dramatic change in his dogs; and many decided to have their dogs spayed or neutered too!
Unique islandsAnimal Balance focuses their efforts on islands especially; also on countries that are very poor or where the cats and dogs represent a severe threat to native species. Places like the Galapagos have a very fragile ecosystem—well, in the case of the Galapagos, it is unique in the world, but there are regions where the native habitat is easily disturbed and where the balance of nature is being interfered with to the detriment of wild species. Islands also are a very controlled habitat, being surrounded by water.
By demonstrating convincingly that spay/neuter can effectively manage the cat and dog population and can limit the threat posed to wildlife, Animal Balance can, it is hoped, bring an end, to the irrational practice of killing feral cats in order to save native birds—or, on the other hand, allowing birds to be sacrificed in order to save the cats. The answer must lie in a “balance” that will respect all of nature’s creatures.
Next year, Animal Balance plans to head off to the Samoan Islands—both American Samoa and independent Samoa—to pursue their work there—with an awareness of all animals—both wild and domestic.
Photo: Sharon St. Joan / Emma Clifford, Founder and President of Animal Balance, on the right; with Karen Green, of ACC&D, in the centerHow you can helpYou may visit Animal Balance’s website at
http://www.animalbalance.org