Category: Feature Stories

By Emma Koeniger, Content and Digital Media Coordinator

The 2017 hurricane season has brought the most major hurricanes since 2010. Breaking records from rainfall to accumulated cyclone energy, the devastation wrought by these hurricanes has been immense. From Texas to Puerto Rico, animals and people were left without food or shelter; their homes destroyed by flooding and powerful wind. 

Hurricane Irma, the strongest hurricane recorded in the Atlantic Ocean outside of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, made landfall in Florida on September 10^th as a Category 4 hurricane As it traveled through the state, Irma left thousands without power, access to clean water, and many without shelter. Among the displaced, hundreds of animals were abandoned as Irma approached, leaving shelters like the Humane Society of St. Lucie County (HSSLC) at full capacity.

As Irma barreled towards HSSLC they braced for impact as best they could and pulled through without any injuries to their staff or the animals in their care. However, their facilities were left battered and uninhabitable. David Robertson, the Director of Administration at HSSLC wrote to SPCAI:

 “The Humane Society of St. Lucie County received damage to many areas of its shelter as a result of Hurricane Irma. Fortunately, no animals were injured. However, damage to kennels, screened enclosures, drainage systems and fencing of exercise yards is significant in areas. We have many downed trees and large amounts of debris that can be can be handled in-house, however other tasks and repairs will require hiring professionals, such as plumbers, fencing experts, and possibly roofers, which can be costly. Metal kennel roofs were bent back like they were tin foil and some blew completely off. With so much standing water, fixing screens to avoid mosquitoes potentially carrying heartworm is a critical concern. Additionally, sewage drains backing up and overflowing are [also] immediate and critical concerns. “

After receiving Mr. Robertson’s email our team jumped into action, issuing a Disaster Relief Fund grant to HSSLC to enable them to afford all repairs needed for their shelter.

The Humane Society of St. Lucie County is not alone; many other shelters share a similar story after hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. Through SPCA International’s Disaster Relief Fund shelters in Texas, Florida, Saint Martin, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic are able to begin the rebuilding process and continue to care for the animals that desperately need them.

by Emma Koeniger, Content and Digital Media Coordinator 

In 2013 the Operation Military Pets program was created to help military families stay together when ordered to a new duty station. Permanent Change of Station (or PCS) orders require a family to move from one base to another and can incurr significant expenses related to that move – including transporting the family pet. When international relocation is required, bringing your family pet can easily cost $1,500 or more. SPCA International recognized that this burden was causing increased rates of pet surrender at shelters near military bases. Operation Military Pets program gives families another option by covering a portion of pet transportation costs.  

August 2017 marked the 1,000^th grant awarded by this program to a military family. That pet-loving family, the Acostas, know the struggle of moving their two pets all too well. Calvin and Cody are like their kids. The Shiba Inu mix and Terrier mix are always close by, ready to chase a ball or go wag their tails when their parents come home. The Acosta family could not imagine leaving Cody and Calvin behind when they received PCS orders relocating them to Japan, but when the cost of pet transportation alone rose over $3,000 they were stunned and financially unprepared.

That’s when they heard about SPCA International’s Operation Military Pets program, and the Acosta family quickly applied for assistance. We could tell from the way they lovingly talked about their two dog-kids that we could not let this tight-knit family fall apart. After completing all of the grant application steps, the Acosta family was approved for a grant. And now, we are happy to report that Calvin and Cody are with their mom and dad in Okinawa!

We received this heartwarming sentiment from the Acosta family; “This is an awesome and honest organization. My PCS from Cali to Okinawa with my (2) boys hurt us financially. There was no way I was leaving my boys! SPCA International helped us as promised. The wife and I are forever grateful and really happy: Thank You for your caring about people and the love for their pets!!!”

by Emma Koeniger, SPCAI Staff

Our team arrived at the Spay Panama clinic in Panama City, Panama on a humid, overcast Saturday morning. Down a little side street and between two houses, we walked into a small covered patio with roughly 20 chairs all occupied by locals waiting for their pets to go into surgery or waiting for them to come out. We went inside the clinic and met up with Spay Panama founder and director, Pat Chan, who showed us around their amazing operation.

There are two front rooms and kitchen, all with pull out sofas that visiting vet students and volunteers (and Harry the dog) can sleep on. You walk through a glass sliding door and you are in the middle of the Spay Panama medical rooms. Cats and dogs who were already sedated were being shaved down and prepped for surgery, once ready they were moved into the operating room where the 4-6 surgeons would perform an innovative veterinary technique called “the quick spay.” After that the animals were brought back out to the prep room, given a long lasting antibiotic, pain, and vitamin injection. It was truly a sight to behold. By the afternoon the crowd outside had dissipated because they do spay/neuter in the morning and save the afternoons for special exams and surgeries. We talked with the vet students visiting from Guelph and other parts of Canada, and met some wonderful patients and volunteers!

We were up bright and early Sunday morning, as our team joined the Spay Panama veterinarians, technicians and volunteers on the Spay Panama bus to travel to the spay and neuter pop-up clinic in Burunga. When we pulled up to the location at 7:30am there were scores of people on either side of the road, many had been waiting since 6:00 am, all with puppies, dogs, cats and kittens. Some of the dogs had harnesses and collars, a large amount had collars and leashes made out of chain or rope. After a quick set up the first patients started being seen.

From start to finish this is how an animal went through the entire process:
1) Check in. Pet is tagged and weighed.
2) Sedation and brought over to the surgical prep station.
3) Shaved for surgery, given a pain and antibiotic injection.
4) Surgery (spay or neuter as well as any emergency needs)
5) Recovery, ears cleaned, nails trimmed, and vaccinations given
6) Animal wakes up, the owner is called, they come pick-up their animal
7) They receive a collar and leash from an SPCA International

While this seems like a lot of steps it only took about 45min total and routine surgeries only take 5-6 minutes of that time!

It was clear to see how grateful the locals were to have Spay Panama there and to be receiving a free collar and leash for their pet. By 7:00pm 562 cats and dogs had been spayed or neutered, all of this was accomplished with only 9 veterinarians and 35 volunteers.

Burunga is an impoverished area. The locals earn roughly $15 a day, which makes it hard to support their families let alone their beloved pets. Yet, they know the importance of the work Spay Panama does, and will make sure they are in line to have their pet taken care of when the Spay Panama bus pulls up. Pat Chan does not turn anyone away when they cannot pay, but she does put them to work, cleaning surgical instruments or moving animals from station to station. Their work is important and the health of the pets is important, and Pat wants them to value both.

It is truly a sight to behold when the Spay Panama pop-up clinic is in full swing – if you blink you might miss something. Thanks to our amazing supporters we are able to provide Spay Panama with grants through our Shelter Support Fund program to sponsor these events and through our Veterinary Supply Aid program we are able to send medical supplies for these events and their clinic. SPCA International and Spay Panama have been partners in this work for over 7 years and we are always blown away by their incredible operation and all they are able to accomplish for the animals and people of Panama.

Each of dogs are now safely in the United States with the families of the U.S. service members or veterans who befriended them on deployment in Syria, Iraq, Kuwait and Turkey. SPCA International is honored to help our U.S. service members and so grateful to all our supporters who make these rescues possible. We currently have 80 more dogs and cats beloved by our troops waiting on our rescue wait list.