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SCA temporarily relocates dogs
About 30 dogs from the Saipan Cares for Animals shelter in As Gonno have been temporarily relocated to the Saipan Mayor’s Office’s animal shelter in As Perdido, while SCA builds a permanent shelter for them at a new site in As Lito.
According to SCA director Beth Pliscou, employees of the Mayor’s Animal Shelter and SCA volunteers cleared out the remaining dogs from the SCA shelter last Monday. She said the dogs were transported to the shelter right after the Easter weekend. “Everything’s moving really well,” she added.
The SCA dogs are in the new kennels of the newly built shelter where the SCA volunteers can go to feed and care for them daily until they are all adopted out. Aileen Garcia, an SCA shelter manager, was seen at the Mayor’s Animal Shelter last Wednesday and she said she “feeds, takes [the dogs] for a walk, plays with them, socializes them, loves, and bathes them.”
As for the dogs that the Mayor’s Dog Control Program picks up, they are placed inside the old shelter right next to the new shelter.
Henry S. Hofschneider, special assistant to Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang, said this arrangement will allow SCA to have a temporary site to keep its dogs. “It’s a way for us to support whatever Saipan Cares for Animals is doing. They are doing a wonderful job.” Hofschneider added that the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. finally connected the waterline to the facility just last week, which is perfect timing for the relocation of the dogs.
Pliscou said the As Gonno shelter has to be fully vacated by the end of this month and that a construction crew has already volunteered to tear down that shelter’s kennels.
As for SCA’s proposed new site, Pliscou said the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Saipan Mayor’s Office will remove the trash from the new property in As Lito and that some people have already volunteered to help clear the land. From then, the new kennels and shelter can be built.
The SCA dogs will be able to stay at the Mayor’s Animal Shelter for up to six months, which Pliscou says is enough time to either have the dogs all adopted out or the new shelter will be built by then, whichever comes first.
If you are interested in adopting or fostering any of the dogs at the shelter, visit the Mayor’s Animal Shelter in As Perdido, which is open weekdays from 9am to 4pm.
