The first night we stayed at a place called Bohio de la Playa. It was a 2 story open air bungalow right on the ocean with a beautiful swimming pool right out front. It was such a treat. Mom and I slept outside under the stars with the sound of the ocean pounding right behind us. We also had a really nice dinner at a small restaurant right next door. Mom and Lindy were here for 10 days and we had fun introducing them to our new friends!
Two to three times a week Steve and I go to Playa La Boca to feed the beach dogs. Often dogs get dumped at the beaches because people don't want them and they believe the people at the beach will feed them. The thing is....99% of the dogs that are dumped are females. The people here don't want more dogs and they don't like the male dogs hanging around when a dog is in heat so they dump the females and keep the males. It's a vicious cycle here. Just recently there was a dump of 9 young puppies at this beach, 2 different litters, all female. I feed the dogs the leftovers from the International school lunch program and a couple local restaurants will save me scraps for the dogs too.
Many of the puppies and dogs that get dumped at the beach have a skin problem they call Sarna. We know it as mange. The dogs, if not treated, will lose most of their hair and become very scabby and itchy. We treat them with injections of Ivermectin to try and control the hair loss and the scabbiness. As you can see from the photos, the dumped dogs are very, very skinny and malnourished.Emma threw a great Halloween party! Steve went as Zeus and our friend Tim went as Merlin the wizard. Here's a picture of the two of them.
Tim's wife Monica went as Bridezilla and Emma was Cruella from 101 Dalamations. There was a bonfire and lots of decorations and games for the kids. It was great fun!
Right after Mom and Lindy left, my friend Irma found a dog in the road that had been hit by a car. She tried to get the dog but he ran away into the bushes. She looked for the dog for 2 days until finally, with the help of some local people, she was able to find him.
He was badly injured and very thin. His right front leg was broken and the bones in his leg were exposed. He had road rash all over him and a huge hole in his groin area that you could almost fit your fist into. 
We had to do surgery to amputate his leg and when we did, we discovered that his left rear leg had an old injury from before and it had been broken and healed incorrectly. This meant that he would be needing to be able to walk pretty much on 2 legs, the one good front leg and the one good rear leg. We continued with the surgery and Steve and I agreed to rehab him at our house. We named him Buddy. 
It was going to take a long time for him to recover. At first he had trouble walking and we had to carry him in and out of the house to go to the bathroom. He was in alot of pain so we had to keep him on pain meds and antibiotics for weeks. Over the course of time we found out that he had a guardian who was missing him. They came to visit him and he was so happy to see them. His name was Tommy and his family wanted him back.
After 2 long months and 2 more minor surgeries, we took Tommy back to his family just last week. Here is a photo of Steve and I with Panda and Tommy before his return and another picture of Tommy with me and his Dominican family in their Colmado (small store).
We just finished a 6 day spay/neuter campaign here in Cabrera. My friend Emma, who is the founder and director of Animal Balance (www.animalbalance.org), organized this campaign through her organization and it was amazing! We were able to sterilize 407 dogs and cats in just 6 days. We setup clinics in 3 different locations and had a full team in each location. One was in Cabrera, one in the small town of Abreu just east of Cabrera and another in the small town of La Entrada which is just west of Cabrera. It was a huge success and an Animal Balance record. We did not have to turn anyone away and the response has been tremendous. Vets, vet techs and volunteers from all over the world came to help. Some came from Norway, Ecuador, Nicaragua and the US. What a great team to be a part of.
Beginning in January 2010, I plan to start my Humane Ed classes in the schools here. I have put together a curriculum and I plan to present it to some of the different schools in the hopes of implementing it into the system.
I will also be working with a friend who works with the schools that are located way out in the campo (countryside). She calls them the 'forgotten schools'. They are in terrible disrepair and the kids don't have many supplies to speak of. I visited the school last week and they are very excited to have me return and I am excited to get started with them. These classes will have to be in Spanish so it will be good practice for me as well. Here is a picture of the classroom I'll be working with.Tomorrow a friend of ours is planning her first Farmers/Flea Market in town so I will be there with the beach puppies hoping to get them adopted out.
Today Steve put up a hammock for me in our backyard so I think I'll go read a book for awhile. It's another beautiful sunny day here in the DR. We are thinking of all of you wherever you may be. Hopefully you're staying warm. We sure are. :-))
Muchos saludos from the DR!!! Connie and Steve
