Homeless Puerto Rico Pets Saved By Team Of Hero Vets

EAST END, NY — A team of East End animal welfare agencies has teamed up to save homeless pets in Puerto Rico after natural disaster left thousands in peril.

The North Fork Animal Welfare League joined forces with the Kent Animal Shelter, the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation, and the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons in a "major lifesaving endeavor" recently, the NFAWL said.

"The four groups, in the spirit of lifesaving collaboration, have rescued 28 dogs and puppies from an uncertain fate off the streets of Puerto Rico," a release said. "The collaborative nature of this rescue brings a variety of organizations and individuals together in an effort to save as many lives as possible in the wake of the biggest natural disaster to hit the U.S. island."

The groups have joined together under the auspices of the Humane Society of the United States' largest spay/neuter project to date, the NFAWL said. The Spay-A-Thon in Puerto Rico is an event that spans many months, incorporates dozens of animal charities, and has a goal of spaying and neutering 30,000 owned and free roaming dogs and cats, the NFAWL said.

In addition to spaying and neutering companion animals, the project's "umbrella of cooperation" provides a pipeline to safety for animals still in harm's way, the NFAWL said.

"Many of the dogs physically on the ground still need placement," says Gillian Pultz, executive director of NFAWL.

Pultz has been" helping to lead the MASH-style recovery wards with community mainstay Veterinarios Internacionales Dedicados a Animales Sanos," or ViDAS, she said.

ViDAS, she added, is renowned for providing large spay/neuter clinics to underserved communities and were one of the first groups on the ground post-Hurricane Maria. Pultz said she has witnessed the full slate of issues facing Puerto Rico's companion animals and credits collaboration as the primary source of sustainable strides in saving more lives.

"Groups from around the world are working together to prevent unwanted litters from being born, but we're also working together to give animals fresh starts in loving homes whenever possible," she said.

London-based Wild at Heart, another Spay-A-Thon partner, contacted Pultz regarding some at-risk dogs, she said.

"Dogs are being picked up from dangerous areas and Wild at Heart is getting them vetted. The organization is able to provide short-term foster care, but the adoption opportunities in Puerto Rico are very limited at this time," Pultz said. "People are bringing animals off the streets — of the 28 dogs we were able to bring to Long Island, 12 of them were brought into a Spay-A-Thon clinic by a concerned citizen."

Dr. Christine Asaro, DVM, ARF's medical director, also stressed the importance of teamwork.

"Working with ViDAS and being a participant in the Puerto Rico Spay-A-Thon for the first time was both humbling and gratifying," she said. "We are excited and looking forward to the combined efforts of our local organizations to help animals in need, namely those of Puerto Rico. Together we can achieve much more than if each of us acts alone."

Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation representatives said they also found cooperation key while on the frontlines of lifesaving. "Working together on the Spay-A-Thon is stopping the problem at its source by preventing pet overpopulation — but it's also wonderful to save the animals in need when we can," said Kate McEntee, director of adoptions at SASF. "The wonderful ability to work together has paved the way for these dogs to literally come off the streets, where life is tough and survival is not a given, to living in a home in the Hamptons."

Added Pam Green, director of Kent Animal Shelter: "Kent Animal Shelter is proud to join the life saving efforts of NFAWL, SASF and ARF to re-home these dogs that were living in crisis situations with little hope of survival. The collaboration and monumental efforts put forth by these humane organizations provides a solution to end the suffering and a path filled with hope for these misfortunate animals."

Looking ahead, the animal welfare agencies of the East End will continue to work together to help as many at-risk animals as possible, Pultz said. "Together, we are able to save so many more lives, and that's what it's about."