Helping pets in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico

After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, the need for veterinary care rose dramatically on the island. Many people who fled left behind pets. The homeless population of dogs and cats exploded.

To help address the stray-animal population, the Humane Society of the United States organized the Spayathon™ for Puerto Rico, a coalition of about 30 groups working together to provide free spay/neuter and vaccination services during four week-long events.

Boehringer Ingelheim supports one of those groups, the nonprofit organization GreaterGood.org, and donated critical medication to assist veterinary teams on the ground in Puerto Rico.

During the most recent Spayathon round, eight clinics across the island operated simultaneously for seven surgical days, manned by volunteer surgeons and veterinary technicians. At the largest site, in Bayamón, crews performed as many as 600 surgeries a day.

One thing became clear: the people of Puerto Rico love their pets. When offered access to free health care and spay/neuter, they jumped. They showed up with herculean resolve, often driving many hours and standing in line for hours. Happily. Joyfully. With gratitude. This was not a drop-off-your-pet-and-return-hours-later operation. The pet owners were required to remain with their pet and assist in their recovery once they were safely out of anesthesia. There were no cages, and the pets woke up in the loving arms of their owners.

The Humane Society’s Tara Loller, who had been working in Puerto Rico for some time, asked GreaterGood.org to get involved. Her vision was simple – bring no-cost, high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter and vaccinations to pet owners on the island.

Since then, Loller has assembled an army of about two dozen coalition partners, including GreaterGood.org, to make her vision a reality. She also enlisted the help of Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello and First Lady Beatriz Isabel Rossello. They are animal lovers who understand the human-animal bond and know that caring for animals elevates an entire community. The First Lady commented that she learned this at an early age from her mother, who let her care for stray dogs and go door-to-door after school to find them homes.

GreaterGood.org visited Puerto Rico in February for round three of The Spayathon. Crews spayed / neutered and vaccinated more than 8,500 pets that week.

The next weeklong event happens in May.

A version of this story first appeared on a blog maintained by GreaterGood.org. It is republished here in slightly edited form with permission. GreaterGood.org is devoted to improving the health and well-being of people, pets, and the planet.