Volunteers help cats and dogs in Dominican Republic and Galapagos Islands

May 4, 11:10 AMNY Shelter Pets ExaminerAmy Sacks

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Piggy living the good life on the Upper East side

Piggy just one month ago on the streets in DR

Just one month ago, this gorgeous 7-month-old puppy, name Piggy, was one of thousands of stray animals living on the streets of the Dominican Republic.   The border collie/shepherd mix was found starving, infested with maggots and ticks, had no fur, and a month-old open wound he suffered when he was hit by a bus.

Now Piggy is enjoying the good life on the Upper East side, thanks to his owner, Tod Emko, who brought the ailing pup home with him after volunteering with Animal Balance.

The all-volunteer program helps spay and neuter cats and dogs living in underdeveloped countries, where there is little available medical care or shelters for pets or stray animals.

With the help of a team of volunteer veterinarians and animal professionals from around the globe, the animal welfare group spays and neuters cats and dogs in underdeveloped countries that have few available animal services or shelters.

Piggy was among the 389 cats and dogs to undergo spay or neuter surgery and receive medical care in just two weeks.  The brave dog also underwent surgery to amputate his hind leg by a doctor who performed the surgery in a school annex, Emko said.

Animal Balance is one of three non-profit groups that are working together to help the animals.  The work of the groups is not widely known, but so valuable in helping to combat overpopulation in countries where the problems are rampant.

The history is interesting.  The three organizations Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS), Animal Balance (AB), and SPECIEES, began working simultaneously to protect the Galapagos.  SSCS worked to stop the smuggling of purebred dogs and cats into the Galapagos; invasive dogs and cats are completely illegal to import or commercially breed in Galapagos because they decimate the fragile ecosystem, which is designated a UN World Heritage Site in Danger. 

However, the number of illegally smuggled and bred purebreds already made them enough of a threat that the Galapaganean government recognized the threat. The government was exacting justice not on the smugglers and illegal commercial breeders (so many of whom were in the Galapaganean government), but on the animals. It was easier to show "justice" by killing all the purebred animals the government found, since it showed they were doing something about the problem, while leaving the actual culprits blameless.

Animal Balance, which is just a few years old, worked to spay and neuter to humanely reduce the number of invasive dogs and cats while protecting them at the same time. AB signs contracts with Galapaganean municipalities saying that they will provide free vet services to the Galapagos, during the times they come for their campaigns, if those municipalities agree not to euthanize or kill any dogs or cats.

SPECIEES, which was a brand new organization and which just got its official nonprofit status a couple weeks ago, goes the next step, and removes those invasive dogs and cats that would be targeted by the government, and sends them to permanent homes in the US.

To learn more about the groups go to www.animalbalance.org; www.speciees.org; or www.seashepherd.org.