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We need homes, please
Pets
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Do you want a dog? There are over 100 loving and rambunctious canines living at The Animal House in Lydford, St Ann, who are in need of a home.
They are rescued dogs, dogs who are victims of abuse, abandonment and strays found on the roadside and beaches of the North Coast.
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| Maureen Sheridan with one of the rescued dogs. |
Their rescuer is Maureen Sheridan who, along with two workers, nurses the dogs back to health and cares for them at the no-kill facility until they find a home.
It's something Sheridan has been doing for a long time. The Animal House, now located on the Jamaica Bauxite Mining Company property, was founded in the 1990s out of concern for the plight of animals on the North Coast. The Animal House became a registered charity in 2003.
The charity provides food, shelter and medical care - including spaying and neutering services. They also allow adoptions.
"No one else would do it," Sheridan said, explaining that some 51 cats are fostered in another location in St Mary.
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| Animal House worker Orville Reynolds with Blitz, who had one ear chopped off with a machette. |
"We get a lot of tourists who report dogs in distress, quite a few even get to Canada and the US where they get homes," she added.
Sheridan does the work with no consistent funding, except help from groups like Couples Resorts and the Sandals Foundation. There is no help from the Government.
And yet, "the turnover is good, with some dogs going [to new homes] in a matter of months," Sheridan said.
It's a mammoth task for anyone, but tie in the fact that The Animal House has been without water since the Jamaica Bauxite Mining Company phased out some of its services, and the full extent of Sheridan's struggles beomes clear. The Animal House staff and volunteers have been forced to carry water to the shelter themselves and when possible trucking the necessary commodity.
Sheridan said there is an online petition - ttp://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Water-For-Animal-House-Jamaica - with over 2,000 signatures petitioning the Government and the National Water Commission to provide the shelter with water.
Volunteers, funds and supplies are also always in demand.
The Animal House website with contact details and information is theanimalhousejamaica.org.
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