Continuing Struggle for a Saipan Shelter

There is still no animal shelter on the island of Saipan, but the mayor has not given up on its construction. (This project has been slated for years, but now he wants it completed before he leaves office.)

SAIPAN Mayor Juan B. Tudela is considering asking the private sector to help fund the construction of the animal shelter project.

“I will see what I can get from them,” Tudela said.

He said he may hold a fundraising activity to help finance the project.

“I want to finish this project,” he said.

Tudela, whose second term ends in Jan. 2010, promised to implement the 1995 stray dog control law when he ran for mayor in 2001.

Photo by bach_illusion.

Saipan Trying to Find Site for New Shelter

Saipan's government and animal activists are wrestling with the question of where to site a new animal shelter. The island, an American commonwealth, has had serious problems with stray dogs and its treatment of them.

Saipan Mayor Juan B. Tudela maintains that the most appropriate site for an animal shelter is in Kagman and not the old prison facility in Susupe, as suggested by...Pet Assistance and Welfare Services president Katie Busenkell.

This is the shocking part.

Tudela said that since 1985, an animal shelter should have already been established. The animal shelter is long overdue, according to Tudela, and he wants to finish the project “before I leave this office in 2010.

They've had since 1985 to do this? I believe actions speak louder than words, but this IN-action yells volumes.

Photo by roenke47.

In Saipan, It's OK to Beat Dogs to Death

Saipan apparently has no animal protection laws, and doesn't look like there will be any time soon.

According to Pet Assistance and Welfare Services president Katie Busenkell, “Saipan is the only territory that doesn't have a law protecting animals from abuse or neglect.”

A male resident reported that he has witnessed some Asian men on the third floor of the Shakier II building in Chalan Kanoa beating dogs to death and disposing of the bones in the alley.

“More than a year ago I saw two [men] killing a dog with 2x4 wood. About since then, I would smell some bad odor everyday 'til now. I always saw the [men] throwing large trash bags from the roof of Shakier Bldg II. My wife said that she even saw cats,” he said.

How barbaric. And this is a US Territory.

There are some people on the island that do care. I just can't fathom why there isn't a law on the books at the very least.

Update: Here's a comment from the president of PAWS Saipan. I thought I'd post it in full on the front page:

This is PAWS President Katie Busenkell. We are asking the local community AND the international community to please send letters/emails to our legislature urging them to pass the PAWS version of the Animal Protection Act.

We have been trying for years to get a law on the books, and believe it or not, some legislators just do not see the need to protect animals from abuse and/or neglect.

As an island community, our economy depends on tourism. As members of the international community - people Saipan would ideally target to visit our island - we ask that you write to our legislature and intelligently and logically discuss how and/or why the absence of an animal protection law affects your decision to travel to Saipan.

Send your emails to: busenkell@gmail.com.

You may also wish to visit our blog at: www.paws-saipan.blogspot.com.