Nora and Friends

Rehoming

It always surprises me how much interest there is among tourists visiting Cuba in helping out the stray animals they encounter.  Many are eager to adopt a dog they've seen and ship him home, wherever that may be.

We try to be careful in enabling these projects as the adopter needs to be realistic about how long it can take and how much it might cost.  Even faced with the costs, many still want to adopt a Cuban dog and ship him home.

A couple of years back we learned of the rigorous requirements the UE imposes on importing dogs.  They are so tough, it is nearly impossible to accomplish rehoming in the UE.  I was corresponding with Nora Garcia, Aniplant's President, when I received her comments on rehoming, and I felt they were worth sharing with you.  As you'll see, not all of these projects end up with a dog as well adapted as Pablo is. (Pablo is the rehomed dog pictured below romping on the beach at Malibu.)  Nora's words show the loving spirit that prompts Aniplant's work for the animals of Cuba.  Nora wrote:

We have sent 2 animals to Germany—a dog and a cat, and I have photos of thanks from those persons.  Also we've sent to Canada and several to the US.  (The US count is 14 counting Pablo and Christian,)  Two dogs, brothers, went to Spain.  The UE regulations are tough but achievable when there is true interest on the other side and they really want the animal.  One American official shipped 8 dogs at one time—a really memorable event.

I believe I told you of two young people visiting in Trinidad, Cuba who found and picked up a little dog with malformed feet, saved him, and wanted to take him with them..They had true interest because when they got to the tourist bus to return, the driver wouldn't let them board the bus with the dog.  So they rented a car and arrived here in Havana with him.

They asked us for shelter, and I got the husband of an Aniplant employee to promise to care for him.  We supplied his food and we paid 90 CUC (about $90) for three months fostering, grooming, vaccinating, and a blood test.  When the paid time was used up and the dog was healthy and we were ready to send the blood sample, the young men wrote us and said that they had no money to pay for all that was needed.  I needed to tell the foster parent what had happened.  I thought he would keep the dog out of love for him.  When I told him, he told me definitely if we didn't have the money, we couldn't have the dog.

We were faced with the impossibility of placing an adult dog with twisted feet whom we all adored.  I offered the foster parent half of what was owed, and he accepted, and ever since then we've paid 360 pesos in his expenses and supplied his food.  These are the risks of taking a dog for eventual shipping.  The only pay we get is to know the dog is happy.  In this case, the foster parents don't mistreat him, and he is very loving to them.  They care well for him.  The foster parent is on a fixed salary, and what we pay for the dog's care is a big help to them.

We have setbacks, but we keep going forward, after 27 years, in this business, Aniplant has a long history with many stories to tell.

Nora

                                                              Princess

                                                               Pablo at the beach

Animal Emotions

Animals got a bad deal when they were put on earth without the ability to speak.  We humans are a little better off because we can easily transmit our thoughts and feelings to one another through speech.  There are some people who think of animals as dumb brutes and who go so far as to hold that animals have no souls, emotions, spirits, or even self consciousness.  They think that animals are ours to use, however we like.  If you buy into that idea it's easy to justify the cruelty we apply to food animals, lab animals, and working animals.  After all, they say, animals don't tell us they object to the cruel treatment we give them.

Anyone who ever loved and lived with a dog or even a cat will deny such a blunt, mechanistic view of animals. You can't have a dog for a pet and think he has no emotions, self consciousness, etc.  A dog will bond for life with his master in a very short time.  Even though he can't tell me how he feels in words, I still know he has a big range of emotions from observing his interaction with me.  He shows it by his physical reactions to our emotions like tail wagging, racing, bowing, licking, or even barking.  He reads the emotions of our lives and shows us his reactions.  Be it anger, fear, calmness, rush, sleep, love, he has a reaction tailored to our feelings.  How could he understand and differentiate out moods and actions and react to each one appropriately if he didn't have emotions and self consciousness himself?

With a faint stirring of her tail, my sweet little Princess responds to my recognition of her.  If I look like I want to pet her, she comes to me, rolls over and presents her tummy for a scratching. I always thought my dogs were better at reading my emotions and moods than most other people are, even though I can speak to people about my feelings.  Think about it—wouldn't you develop a keener perception about others' feelings if you didn't have speech to help you?

At the top of this posting is one of my favorite pictures of an animal.  It's Pablo at the beach in Malibu.  I've used this picture and Pablo's story before, but this time I do it just to ask you a question.  Is this dog angry, upset, sick, loveless?  Or is he bursting with joy, loving life, and at peace with his situation?

Those are easy questions, so here's a tougher one: What is Pablo trying to say to Amanda, his owner and the woman behind the camera?  Clearly he's telling us how great he's feeling and returning her love.  Keep in mind Pablo had a many months-long bout with illness until he was healthy enough to be flown to the US and his new home with Amanda.  Chances are  in his entire life he never had a moment of pure joy like the one the camera caught on California's most famous beach.

You might notice that when I refer to animals with relative pronouns, I do it with "who," not "which," and when I use personal pronouns for animals, Princess is "she, and Danny was "he."  Stuffy grammarians say doing this is "anthropomorphizing" (attributing human qualities to an animal) and prescribe against it.  But I emphatically deny this is wrong.  These companions are emotional little beings who share their feelings with me and understand mine as well.

Our penchant for political correct language finally made "chairman" into "chair" and "spokesman" into "spokesperson."  I'm hoping it won't be too long until we honor our animal companions with "he" or "she" instead of the godless, cold, inert "which."

Les Inglis

Les Inglis