World Vet Spay Day 2011

Saga is hosting visiting vet group called World Vets http://www.worldvets.org/ - they travel all over the world helping animals for free!!

The volunteers will be working on Caye Caulker for a couple days and coming to do a free spay and neuter clinic at Saga this thursday March 24th. Starting at 9:30 am to 4:00pm.

International Spay Day 2011 - SAGA Supports the San Pedro Community by Spaying Pets and Preventing Suffering

Press Release – SAGA – March 1st, 2011– International Spay Day was on the 22nd of February? You may be perplexed by this. What on earth is International Spay Day? Why would there be an international day devoted to spaying? What is spaying anyway? What does it have to do with San Pedro? What does it have to do with SAGA? What does it have to do with me?
Every day, across the world, thousands of unwanted dogs and cats are killed simply because there are too many of them - and, tragically, those are the lucky ones. Many others are left to die of disease, are poisoned or to starve to death in the streets because they are allowed to reproduce without any control. Dogs and cats are domestic animals. This means that we have created them to serve a purpose and they are dependent on us for their care and welfare. So, it is up to us to prevent their suffering.

Miss Brownie was a female dog left to roam around town by very uncaring and irresponsible owners. She had TVT, a sexually transmitted cancer virus that was one of the worse that had ever been seen by SAGA. Her owners were allowing her to breed irresponsibly and this is why she became infected. Unfortunately for Miss Brownie and the devoted team of SAGA staff and volunteers who spent weeks trying to catch her, she was so sick that they couldn’t save her. She also had tick fever, which is easily and inexpensively treatable, but her owners didn’t bother trying to get help for her. It would have been cruel to keep her alive any longer so she was painlessly put out of her misery.
This is why spaying and neutering is so important and why all responsible owners in San Pedro should have their pets spayed and neutered. International Spay Day gives groups like SAGA, all over the world, a chance to promote spaying and neutering and to inform and educate pet owners about the importance of these very simple procedures that can save thousands of lives.
For SAGA, even though Miss Brownie brought them great sadness, the day turned out to be a huge success and they were able to perform 10 free spays and neuters for the loving and responsible pet owners of the San Pedro community.

Spaying and neutering makes dogs want to stay at home instead of wandering and looking for mates. It makes them better pets, better watch dogs and safer with children. It reduces the chance of injury and disease, which can cost owners a great deal of money and heartbreak and eliminates the risk of unwanted puppies or kittens, which are a great burden on an already overpopulated island.

Many people complain about the strays that chase people on the beach, bark at night, turn over the garbage and give visitors to San Pedro the impression that people don’t care. But there is an easy solution – be an upstanding member of the San Pedro community, like the wonderful owners who brought their pets in on International Spay Day – have your pet spayed or neutered. The great news is that because of the huge success on International Spay Day, SAGA is continuing throughout the month of March to offer a great deal to responsible pet owners. Any owner who has their pet spayed or neutered at SAGA in March will receive a FREE heartworm test, worth $90, for their pet. Heartworm is another easily preventable disease, so having your pet tested and finding out what to do to prevent heartworm or treat it is a great way to save money, your pet’s health and contribute to making San Pedro a better place for people and animals.
It is the right thing to do for you, for your pet and your community. There is nothing natural or kind about leaving your dog to catch and spread deadly disease and letting it have puppies & kittens when there are not enough good homes.
If you’d like to find out more about having your pet spayed or neutered, please contact SAGA on 226-3266.

Zenda – A Pup in Chains – Support International Spay Day

Press Release – SAGA – February 14th, 2011 – On Valentine’s week, there is one question all dogs might ask if they could speak and that would be ‘How much do you love me?’ Most people love their dogs and care for them very much, but the way some people treat their dogs is just heartbreaking.
We’ll never know just how terrified poor Zenda was or what really happened to her. What we do know is that Zenda was locked and chained, starved, irresponsibly bred from, neglected and ultimately abandoned. Zenda had never known love.
Zenda was ruthlessly thrown over the fence at Fort Dog, Saga’s animal shelter, in the middle of the night. Her body reduced to skin and bone and weighted down by a chain far heavier than herself with a padlock securing it in place was tossed casually, like a bag of trash, and left with no explanation.

When staff arrived in the morning to discover her frightened, shivering and nearly dead, they were horrified. They tried to remove the chain, but it had been padlocked tight around her skinny neck, so the first thing they did was give her some affection, food and water. Then they called in reinforcements – a kind volunteer with a bolt cutter came in and helped to free Zenda so that so that she could take her first wobbly steps into a new life.

The first thing everyone noticed about Zenda was her spirit. Behind those broken and sad eyes was a shining light of hope. Zenda wanted to be loved and clearly would fight for her life to make sure that she got that love. But it wasn’t to be that simple because Zenda was sick – very sick and so the battle to save Zenda began.
Aside from malnutrition, anemia and severe dehydration caused by starvation and lack of access to water, Zenda had a terrible case of tick fever. While tick fever can be treated easily and cheaply, if left untreated it is often deadly. You would think that would be enough for her to cope with, but no. Zenda had clearly been bred from irresponsibly and now had the sexually transmitted disease, TVT. TVT is a killer; it is a contagious viral cancer that dogs get from breeding with other infected dogs. It’s horrific to think what happened to her puppies.

Even though it might have been tempting to put Zenda out of her misery, the SAGA team was determined to give her a second chance – a chance to have a life and a home where she would learn what it is like to be loved. And so the battle continued – to save poor Zenda.
Zenda’s determination, sweetness of spirit and personality has won the hearts of everyone who has dealt with her. Despite the terrible abuse and neglect she suffered in her short life, she gets stronger every day, wagging her tail enthusiastically at anyone who smiles at her, hoping for someone to love her forever.

The 17th Annual International Spay Day is on the 22nd of February. If Zenda’s owners had loved her enough to spay her, she may not have been such a burden on them and she certainly would not have contracted the deadly TVT virus. In honour of International Spay Day, SAGA has given away six free spays and neuters to needy pet owners in the San Pedro community and for the rest of February will be offering a special ‘I Love My Dog This Much!’ discount on all spays and neuters for cats and dogs.
So if your dog could talk and asked you ‘How much do you love me?’ The best answer you could give this month would be ‘I love you enough to spay or neuter you because I don’t want you to end up like Zenda’.
If you would like to find out more about spaying or neutering your dog call SAGA on 226 2366 and they will arrange an appointment for you and your best friend.

Nety Wasn’t Just Hanging Around

Kitten Saved from Death by SAGA

SAGA just doesn’t help the San Pedro Community to deal with stray dogs, they also do cat ‘round ups’ too. Volunteers and staff will travel around San Pedro and trap or capture stray, sick, abandoned and neglected cats.

It was very lucky for little Nety that SAGA was doing a roundup that very day. Nety, a tiny little kitten had managed to get herself all tangled up in some netting on a fence. She had been stuck in the fence for hours in the hot sun before SAGA discovered her.
On that day two members of the SAGA team were looking for stray and abandoned cats when they found a terrified and dying kitten in desperate need of help behind a house near the bridge. They gently released the poor kitten and immediately realised that it was seriously dehydrated and gave it some water before quickly getting back to SAGA for some tender loving care.

Of course the name ‘Nety’ stuck and she recovered to become a healthy and beautiful cat. Her experience clearly left her with a huge appreciation for human beings and so she was quickly adopted by a loving family and now has a permanent home, where she gets plenty of fresh food and water, tons of love and attention and a family to call her very own. SAGA paid for all of her veterinary costs and made sure that she was spayed so that she won’t have any unwanted kittens that might end up in the same danger that she found herself in because she had no one to care for her.
In five years, one single female cat can be responsible for 20,000 descendents. There are just not enough loving homes for all of those cats. Of course kittens are adorable, but until there are no more unwanted cats in San Pedro, please have your cat spayed or neutered. It is the right thing to do and one of the best ways that, as an animal lover, you can prevent cruelty and suffering.

Come and visit Nety’s friends who were left behind at SAGA Humane Society.

If you see a cat or dog that is injured or suffering call SAGA on 226 2366 and they will be there to help.