Dog left to drown at Smiling Cove now recovering

A dog of about seven months old was left to drown at the Smiling Cove Marina for about a week before an animal welfare group received a call last Dec. 30 regarding the situation.

As of yesterday, the dog has been recovering and will be up for adoption after a few more weeks of recovery.

Saipan Cares for Animals received a call by someone who went by the name “Capt. Gunnar,” reporting the dog to be tied to a heavy rock and left to drown eventually.

Beth Pliscou, president of SCA, shared that it would take a few weeks for the dog to fully recover. Pliscou believes the dog was not abused prior to the being tied to the rock, “but it was definitely neglected.”

“The dog had snails and other organisms living on him and based on that, we guess he may have been in the ocean like that for as long as a week,” said Pliscou.

Pliscous said SCA would nurse the dog back to health and was quite surprised, because, “He [had] a sweet personality and is playful and cuddly, which is amazing given the way he lived his life until now.”

SCA named the dog Gunnar, after the man who called the dog in.

Multiple cases of animal abuse

As of this writing, there are no local laws protecting animals from abuse.

SCA claims that they have been receiving and treating numerous animals that have been victims of abuse.

SCA volunteer Sarah Gross shared some of many gruesome incidents regarding animal abuse.

“We have seen cases of a dog that had a bullet lodged in its heart. Someone shot it,” said Gross. “But we were able to save the dog. A cat came in and someone had split its head wide open—that cat as well we were able to save.”

“We have had many cases of scalding hot oil poured on animals. This is extremely painful and we’ve been able to save some of these animals, and not save others. All of these acts are completely legal on Saipan, and we need the public’s support to pass a law to change it,” she said.

According to Rep. Ed Propst (Ind-Saipan), the CNMI is the only U.S. territory or state to not have any form of animal protection laws.

“There have been numerous reports on incidents of animal cruelty that even include torture and maiming, but no one can be prosecuted for these malicious attacks on domesticated animals because there are no laws against it,” said Propst.

Propst wishes his proposed law, House Bill 19-55 HD1 also known as the Animal Protection Act of 2015, passes the Senate for the protection of domesticated animals.

A petition has been started by SCA in support to the passing of HB 19-55 HD1. As of Jan. 5, 6:30pm, 683 have signed the petition.

Sign the petition at www.saipancaresforanimals.com.