Earlier this month, a dog lover in distress contacted the T&T Guardian hoping to find a home for a two-year-old mixed breed dog named Kato that she rescued in 2011. The woman, who wished only to be referred to as Harriet, said she encountered over a year and a half of difficulty in finding a suitable home for the medium-built male dog.
Prompted by Kato's story, the T&T Guardian sought to find out some of the reasons people abandon their family pets and what is involved in rescuing or adopting a pet. This included a visit to the T&T Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (TTSPCA) Port-of-Spain shelter in Mucurapo Lands, St James where we spoke to the operations manager Sara Menard-Agostini.
She said a couple thousand stray dogs are brought to the TTSPCA each year from the Port-of-Spain, San Juan/Laventille, Tunapuna and Chaguanas city corporations. Unlike a dog pound which serves only as an enclosure, the TTSPCA allows dogs and cats the chance of being "re-homed."
Menard-Agostini said 90 per cent of the dogs brought in by the corporations are considered to be feral, adding that many have never been socialised to humans and react viciously when touched. Although there are no official statistics on the number of stray animals in T&T, she estimates the figure to be well over 100,000.
Some of the most common reasons owners relinquish pets to the shelter are that they find the cost of pet maintenance to be too high, there are too many animals in the household, the owner is migrating or has died or that the animal has become ill or pregnant.
"The problem really is the number of unspayed animals," she said. "Eventually people realise they just have too many animals and they reach their breaking point. They don't see the need to spay their pets or they can't afford it."
She said the average price of spaying an animal is $600 which is a lot for the average pet owner. When bringing an animal to the TTSPCA, the owner must sign a form relinquishing all rights to the animal. The organisation also requests a donation of $125 for dogs, $60 for cats and $30 for a puppy or kitten.
When an animal is brought to the shelter, the workers first look at the condition, age and "rehomeability" of the animal. For example, she said four-week-old pups cannot enter the shelter and be placed with other pups since they are especially vulnerable to airborne diseases. In such cases, pups have to be fostered elsewhere until they have reached the six-week mark and can receive their first vaccination.
Menard-Agostini said the TTSPCA has never been against euthanising animals that are critically injured or sick. She said this was the reality of an open shelter adding that animals over the age of five can also be put to sleep since most people do not want to adopt an old dog.
Each animal spends an average of three months at the shelter before being adopted and the average cost for each animal during its stay is around $1,200 and $1,500. These costs include services such as worming, spaying or neutering, vaccinations, grooming and feeding.
"We invest money in the dogs who we know can find homes and we're happy to do that to give them the best possible chance of rehoming because that's what it's all about."
But what is actually goes into adopting one of the many rescued animals at the TTSPCA?
After interest is expressed in an animal, a TTSPCA volunteer must visit the home of the prospective owner to ensure that the household is safe and welcoming for a new pet.
The volunteer would check to ensure the home has high and secure fencing and that there are no loose or potentially harmful materials in the yard. Menard-Agostini said they would also check to see whether the household has other pets and make a note of the gender of these animals as well as their physical condition. n Continues on Page B2
If the household doesn't meet the mark, the TTSPCA gives the potential pet owner the opportunity to fix any aspects of their home that present a risk to the animal's well-being.
The TTSPCA's Port-of-Spain shelter currently houses around 25 cats, ten puppies, and around 40 dogs. Menard-Agostini says the shelter has been experiencing a very good adoption rate of 15 per cent for the intake of animals. Nearly 1000 animals are adopted from the shelter each year.
"I think this growth has a lot to do with the influence of TV and the push towards adopting shelter animals," she said. "People feel good about themselves and like the idea of taking in a homeless animal."
She said many of the requests for people wishing to adopt animals are for small dogs or what most people refer to as "purebred pom peks". Given the state of crime many people also coming looking for large aggressive dogs such as rottweilers and pit bulls.
Despite the demands for these dog breeds, she defended the "Trini pot hounds" which make up the majority of the dogs at the shelter. She said they are perfectly-suited for T&T's climate, face little to no health issues during their lifetime, get along easily with other dogs and can be very alert watch dogs.
The T&T Guardian also spoke to animal behaviourist and welfarist Kristel-Marie Ramnath who explained some of the reasons clients bring their pets to her. These include aggression towards the owner, aggression towards other pets, disobedience, hyperactivity, excessive barking resulting in nuisance calls from neighbours as well as separation anxiety.
Ramnath said no particular dog breed is more wild or aggressive than another. Some reasons for aggression in dogs include prior abuse resulting in fear-aggression, physical confinement leading to frustration as well as lack of mental stimulation and exercise which can cause dogs to have pent-up energy.
Ramnath said aggression is a genetic trait that can be passed on from parent to offspring. In such cases, she recommends that aggressive dogs be neutered to prevent continuation of this gene.
She said: "Dogs who have not been adequately socialised to humans and other animals during their imprinting period often show variations of fear-aggression when coming into contact with unfamiliar persons and animals later in life." For this reason, the TTSPCA brings in volunteers each week to play with the animals and to ensure that they have become used to human handling.
Ramnath said most dogs are very resilient and when adopted settle quickly into their new homes. The key is to ensure the dog accepts its adoptive family as its "new pack" by engaging in activities such as reward-based obedience training, walking, offering treats and playing with the dog.
"Affection and attention are vital," she said. This includes spending time with the dog and ensuring that he is mentally enriched through the provision of toys. Discipline, not punishment, ensures that the dog learns to distinguish appropriate behaviour from inappropriate behaviour."
Kato
Harriet rescued Kato in 2011 when she saw him wandering in Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain. She had him neutered and fully vaccinated before boarding him at the TTSPCA where he stayed for six months while she searched for a home for him. Through newspaper ads, Kato was later adopted by a family in Barataria with whom he lived for eight months. The family later decided it could no longer care for Kato and returned him. He is now being temporarily fostered at a volunteer's home and Harriet pays for all his expenses. She says she is still looking desperately for a suitable owner for Kato and is convinced he will make a loyal and loving family pet. If interested in adopting Kato, call 680-9576.
The TTSPCA has a low-cost spay clinic and on the last Tuesday of each month, there is cat spay special at a reduced price. The Animal Welfare Network (AWN) also hosts a subsidised spay week in November. For more information on these services, or to adopt a pet, call the TTSPCA at 622-1367 or visit its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TTSPCA.
