Wednesday, May 12, 2010

P.U.P.P.Y. Project Follow-up and Review

The P.U.P.P.Y. Project certainly seemed a success in achieving the objective of finding homes for all the puppies.  All 5, although fostered out, eventually ended up staying with their Dominican Families.  We continue to see Lassie, MaLuna, Cheese Pizza, Blanca, and Puta in the village and stop to pet them on occasion.

As part of another community outreach program we are part of where we provide Ivermectin and Wormer to all the dogs in our village of Boca de Yasica we keep an eye on the puppies and make sure they are healthy and happy.

Some thoughts as we wrap up this portion of the P.U.P.P.Y. project:

    -This certainly seems like a very viable way to find homes for some of the unwanted animals in the Dominican Republic.  We tend to think that it is only the "Gringos" who are candidates to rescue these animals, but with instruction and support I think it is a conceivable that a great number of these animals could become welcome members of Dominican families.  Even the poorer families.

     -One thing I would do more of in the future is to show the Dominicans how great it is to hold their dogs and pet them and incorporate them into their daily lives.  By doing so they will have a much better animal to live with.   Although we did make some effort to show the locals how we appreciate our animals, I think more could have been done.  A couple of the families seem to still consider their dogs as something to be  put up with rather then enjoyed.  A lot of this is cultural, but perhaps it can be overcome.  We certainly know some Dominicans who love their dogs like we do.

     -For those following this program in the future I would suggest that you be prepared for a little out of pocket expense every once in a while to support your puppies.  We had a couple of vet visits and some additional food and supply costs to keep the puppies going with their families until the families took over sole care of the dogs.  Be prepared to have to provide some transportation every once in a while for the dogs as they visit the AAAS and or the Vet.

    -It would probably be best to do as we did and get the puppies into their local homes as quickly as possible.  I think the more time they live with "Westerners" the harder it would be for the dogs to acclimate to the lifestyle and eating habits of Dominican dogs.

Although our participation in this program was brought on by necessity.  It truly was a labor of love and we enjoyed seeing all the puppies growing, gettting healthy, and become members of their families as well as the local community.  For those that follow feel free to ask us questions about our experience and we will see if we can help you out.

Mark and Debbie Diekmann (ddiekmann@paragon.us.com or 829.369.5576)

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