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Saipan Animal Shelter closes, temporary shelter opens
Last Friday, April 1, the Saipan Animal Shelter officially closed due to damaged sustained from Typhoon Soudelor. The building had been condemned by the Department of Public Works and ordered to be vacated by the end of March.
Thankfully, 43 dogs and 11 cats were adopted out in the final few weeks, with one dog even flying to her new home on Rota, and only three dogs and no kittens remain under the control of Saipan’s Animal Control Officers.
The fear of having to do a mass euthanasia of a number of healthy dogs and cats due to lack of space never materialized, because so many adoptions took place and the Office of the Mayor of Saipan was able to secure a temporary facility in As Perdido.
“We are grateful that we were able to reduce the number of dogs and cats under our control in the best way possible, by adopting the animals out to wonderful families instead of putting them down,” said Spencer Marchadesch, Animal Control Officer Program Manager. “Our temporary facility will house the few animals we currently have, and we will begin to address the public’s concerns of stray dogs and house them at our temporary facility and continue to socialize them, treat them and get them ready to be adopted!”
“Just because our main shelter is closing doesn’t mean that our work is stopping,” said Beth Pliscou from Saipan Cares for Animals. “We will continue our work of sterilizing, medicating and socializing animals at this temporary facility while the new facility is being built.”
Plans for a new Saipan Animal Shelter, with better facilities to house Saipan’s stray animals, are underway. Construction is believed to take between six and eight months.
“As always, if you are interested in adopting a dog or cat, please visit us at Saipan Cares for Animals on Facebook, or www.SaipanCaresforAnimals.com,” said Jason Hudy from SCfA. “On our Facebook page you can see the three dogs we currently have available, and we look forward to finding these animals homes in the near future!”
