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Boonie Tails

By Grace Keilbach

When the humane decisions are the hardest to make

Before you read this week’s Boonie Tails, please know that this one unfortunately does not feature a happy ending. Although we firmly believe in openly sharing the reality of rescue, we understand that it is not always something people are up for hearing. This is your warning that what you are about to read is very raw and real. If you would like to pass, please click on the ad and we look forward to seeing you next week!

Recently, Aria and I had the pleasure of taking an animal handling class with John Peaveler, founder of Humane Innovations. I don’t think most of you need to know how to effectively and safely trap and handle feral animals so I am going to skip over the details, but John brought up some important concepts. The one which stood out the most was this: humane means what you decide it means.

We were given an equation: time + method = humane. Well, on a remote island with no consistent access to veterinary care and little to no resources, the methods we have access to are extremely limited. Therefore, greatly limiting our access to the most humane response. One of our first rescues was a little male puppy we found in the jungle, later referred to as “Baby Boy”. He was crying out in pain due to his eye being completely popped out of its socket and his back legs crushed. Our mom scooped him up and we all immediately started crying with him. At this point in time, we barely had access to euthanasia ,so we were contemplating the most humane way we could figure out how to kill this dog ourselves. We held him through the night, expecting every struggled and painful breath he took to be his last but, miraculously, he made it till the morning. We waited for the clinic to open, knowing there was only one option, and rushed him to Saipan Cares to be euthanized. Nothing about this situation was truly humane, but with the time and method we had, it was the closest we could get.

Working in animal rescue on Saipan, it often nothing we do feels humane. We are putting down significantly more dogs than we are saving. Although we know intellectually this is the most humane option, telling yourself that as you carry another body to put in the freezer emotionally never gets any easier.

Our current crisis

Last week, Aria pulled a female dog and cat from the shelter. The dog had been surrendered by her owners because she “kept getting pregnant”. These two girls quickly warmed up and began enjoying life at Boonie Headquarters, getting happier and healthier every day. It is normal for stray intakes to put on weight as they typically come to us malnourished, so Aria didn’t think anything at first. Soon though, she noticed an extra roundness to both of them; they are pregnant.

We do not pull pregnant animals from the shelter as bringing more lives into our context is the most inhumane thing we could do, so now what? With no veterinarian on island to preform spay abortions, we are left with one option; euthanasia. We are absolutely heartbroken about this situation but the results of the time and method tell us this is the most humane thing we can do. It allows us to use our resources to other Boonies and prioritize their lives and chances at success.

The euthanasias have been scheduled and we are heartbroken. They will enjoy a weekend being spoiled and then peacefully and humanely be put down. Without Aria, they would have remained in the horrible conditions of the shelter, stressed and scared until the end. Now, they get to spend their final days comfortable and leave this earth loved. We will remember them, and rededicate ourselves to fight for the humanity they deserved and hopefully other Boonies will one day see.

Update

Before we could send out this newsletter or make it to the euthanasia appointment, the cat went into labor. I will spare you the details but she suffered through out the day unable to give birth. Without a veterinarian, there was nothing we could do to ease her suffering or help get the kittens out. We rushed her to Saipan Humane Society the next morning where her suffering was finely ended and she was humanely put down.

Boonie of the Week

We may not have a Boonie of the Week this week but stay tuned for some exciting news and new furry friends next Monday!

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