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Spring is the season when all animal rescue organizations are inundated with hundreds of unspayed and neutered domestic animals and their offspring who have been abandoned by indifferent owners.  They end up tossed in dumpsters, ditches and cardboard boxes.  They are tied to trees or left wandering the streets attempting to fend for themselves.  They become road kill, die of diseases and malnutrition, revert to feral status, or find their way to a rescue facility.  Unless this facility is no kill, chances are good euthanasia will be the end of their short lives.

For those who care, the task is overwhelming,  The animals must be housed, nourished, madicated and altered, not to mention loved and trained.  All of this work requires time, money and lots of love.  For the foster parent the search for a permanent home for these animals can prove a long and heartbreaking one.  There are more animals than there are good homes to take them in.  In New Hanover County last year, 1522 cats and 887 dogs were euthanized, half of those because they could not find a loving home.

As a caring and enlightened society we cannot allow this to continue.  The solution is simple, spay/neuter your animal.  There are low cost spay/nueter facilities and a number of veterinarians who will work with you on cost.  There is no longer an excuse not to "do the right thing".

In the words of Saint Francis of Assisi: "We are all creatures of God.  If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from his shelter of compassion and pity, you have men who will deal likewise with their fellow man".

Please help reduce the number of unwanted kittens and puppies this year.  Make the appointment to spay or neuter your pet today.

Art to the Rescue!

There are still 5 cats left that need new homes. Some are semi-friendly and some, true ferals. Tina will be trapping again soon so… we need help…. If anyone can add a couple of ferals to your colony, please let us know. These poor little guys need to know they are loved once again. If you can take in one of these cats please contact us at friendsofelines@aol.com or call 452-6721 and leave a message.  We also would like to thank Sarah Skipper for taking care of the cats for us during this time of need. She was Frenchie’s neighbor and has been graciously feeding them while we find new homes for them. We will miss you, Frenchie.

June 14-25, 2010
G. Robert Weedon, DVM, MPH

(Note: This article was written by Dr. Wheedon, DVM, who has been a leader in the fight against rabies anda longtime supported of the TNR (trap neuter release) feral cat program. The article details efforts in othercountries in the fight against rabies, a deadly and devastating world wide threat to animals and humans.Newsletter Editor Sharon Harmon)

For two weeks, June 14-25, 2010, I participated in a sterilization project in the Dominican Republic organized by the nonprofit, Animal Balance. The campaign focused on dogs, because they are the principal reservoir of rabies in the Dominican Republic, and there are countless street dogs in communities there, but also included cats. The first week, we were in Sosúa, and the second week, we worked in Cabrera. During the two weeks, we vaccinated almost 500 dogs for rabies, surgically sterilized almost 150 female dogs, and a dozen or so cats, and chemically sterilized 55 male dogs with Esterilsol. In addition to Animal Balance, collaborators on these two projects included the Alliance for Rabies Control, the Alliance for Contraception in Cats & Dogs, Ark Sciences, Association of Friends of the Animals of Sosúa, the Cabrera Municipality, the Kimball Family Foundation, the Dominican National Anti-Rabies Center, in Santo Domingo (a division of the Heath Department), and faculty and students from the University of Illinois,and the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Amy E. Fischer, PhD, Teaching Associate and Extension Specialist in the Companion Animal Biology and Humane Education Program at the University of Illinois, brought two students, Dr. Marcial Guevara, a veterinarian who is completing his PhD at the University of Illinois, and Marissa Woodall, an undergraduate student. With me, were two of my UNCW students, Laurie LeMonds, and Lindsay Buffkin.

On Friday, June 25, Emma Clifford of Animal Balance and I met with Dr. Martin Viloria, Director General of the Dominican National Anti-Rabies Center, and Dr. Rosario Cabrera, Public Health Veterinarian with the Pan American Health Organization, to discuss a number of items related to rabies prevention in the Dominican Republic. With us was Dr. Guevara, who is interested in animal population control, as part of rabies prevention efforts, and is fluent in Spanish, which helped facilitate communication. My goal for the meeting was to offer the assistance of the Alliance for Rabies Control in developing World Rabies Day events in the Dominican Republic, as well as helping with resources to facilitate rabies awareness and prevention in the country. Dr. Viloria was aware of the World Rabies Day initiative, but had not considered a coordinated effort to promote events to raise awareness of rabies, nor WRD rabies vaccination clinics on a nationwide basis. He whole heartedly embraced the idea, and asked me to return to the Dominican Republic to work with him to develop a national WRD initiative.

An additional goal from the meeting was to get Dr. Viloria to consider animal population control in the country's rabies prevention efforts. As recently as the spring of this year, Dominican officials have used depopulation efforts to help control rabies outbreaks in communities. Such efforts angered the citizens of these communities, and did nothing to foster cooperation between the citizens and officials. Dr. Viloria was very interested in animal population control as a chief component of the country's anti-rabies efforts. He was particularly interested inhigh-volume surgical sterilization, and the use of Esterilsol to chemically sterilize male dogs. He asked Drs. Fischer, Guevara and me to help train veterinarians and veterinary students in the Dominican Republic on these techniques when I return to develop the WRD initiative.

I have always believed that animal population control is an integral part of rabies prevention, so to be able to work on a project incorporating both in an international setting was a dream come true for me. As a result of the incredibly positive meeting with Dr. Viloria, I am very optimistic about being able to help with rabies prevention efforts in the Dominican Republic by developing a national WRD initiative, incorporating rabies vaccination and animal population control, including the use of Esterilsol. The opportunity to train veterinarians and veterinary students in the country on the use of Esterilsol will allow veterinarians there to use it on a widespread basis to help with the animal overpopulation problem, particularly as it relates to rabies transmission.

About the author:G. Robert Weedon, DVM, MPH received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Purdue Universityand his Master of Public Health from UNC Chapel Hill. He retired as the senior veterinarian at theCollege Road Animal Hospital, PLLC in Wilmington, and is currently the Veterinary Outreach Coordinator for the Alliance for Rabies Control, as well as Adjunct Faculty at the University of North Carolina Wilmington where he teaches Epidemiology, and a class entitled Animals in Society. He isalso one of the faculty advisors for the Pre-Veterinary Medical Association. Dr. Weedon is the veterinarian representative on the New Hanover County Board of Health and is a volunteer surgeonat New Hanover County Animal Control Services, as well as with Friends of Felines. He serves onthe Boards of The Public Health Foundation of New Hanover County, the UNC Public Health Foundation,and The Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs. He is a member of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Alliance for Rabies Control.

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