Iguanas were in Florida first––by 16 million years FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida––Bashing or shooting the brains out of iguanas essentially for the hell of it would be illegal almost anywhere if done to pets. Braining iguanas in the name of research, however, brought University of Florida wildlife biologist and research coordinator Jenny Ketterlin and 14 […]
Death of Florida 6-year-old reminds that bat rabies can strike anywhere
Humans & bats evolved to live in frequent proximity, yet rarely meet. That keeps us both safe. ORLANDO, Florida––The January 14, 2018 death of Ryker Roque, 6, at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, just 20 minutes from Disney World and half an hour from Walt Disney’s Wild Animal Kingdom, came as […]
Leptospirosis: when a rescue goes to rat piss
Five of 10 puppies transported from Puerto Rico to Vermont fell ill NORWICH, Vermont––Posted Surfin’ Sato founder Aimee Porcaro Goodwin to Facebook two days before Thanksgiving 2017, “We just got the lepto PCR test results for Ollie. NEGATIVE!!! I’m so thankful!!” The “all clear” for Ollie, a puppy from Puerto Rico whom Surfin’ Sato […]
Flood & fire: global warming hits animal shelters from Puerto Rico to California
Disaster follows disaster GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico; SANTA ROSA, California––An October 16, 2017 flash flood forcing the Humane Society of Puerto Rico to evacuate all animals and personnel at a moment’s notice had much in common with wildfires impelling the evacuation of northern California animal shelters and sanctuaries a few days earlier. Despite the conflicting characteristics […]
What did we do during hurricanes Harvey, Irma, & Maria?
We were on the job! We knew longtime dolphin rescuer and advocate Rick Trout, of Tavernier in the Florida Keys, would be among our most valuable sources as Hurricane Irma roared in after devastating the Caribbean. Living in a house built as a storm shelter after the Category 5 hurricane of 1935, Trout sheltered neighbors […]
Hurricanes: most famous fatality was Molly the dolphin
Molly’s life was microcosm of marine mammal captivity history MARATHON, Florida––Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria killed more than 200-and-counting humans among them, from Barbuda to the southern end of the Coastal Bend region of Texas, but the best-known victim so far was apparently a dolphin, Molly, who was among the oldest dolphins on record. Molly […]
Hurricane Maria: St. Croix Animal Welfare Center welds the door shut
Whatever didn’t blow away was stolen ST. CROIX, U.S. Virgin Islands––“It is with a very heavy heart that we were forced to weld the door to our clinic closed today,” the St. Croix Animal Welfare Center posted to Facebook on September 28, 2017. Even before Hurricane Maria crushed the U.S., Dutch, and British Virgin Islands, […]
Hurricane Maria: monkeys hold on, horses endure
“Oh my goodness, how could anything have survived this?” CAYO SANTIAGO, Puerto Rico––Hurricane Irma mostly missed the renowned Cayo Santiago rhesus macaque colony, on an island just east of the Puerto Rican mainland, but Hurricane Maria hit it head-on, at full Category 5 strength. The thousand-odd macaques on Cayo Santiago are ninth generation descendants from […]
Hurricane Maria: first reports about animal aid from Puerto Rico
Destroyed communication infrastructure left rescuers incommunicado SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico––“Brutal winds left streets in the historic Old Town of the Puerto Rican capital, San Juan, strewn with rubble––collapsed balconies, fallen lamp posts, and dead birds, reported Dave Graham and Robin Respaut of Reuters the morning after Hurricane Maria ripped across the length of Puerto […]
Hurricane Irma: how wildlife endured
Any animals who could escape or hide did (See also Hurricane Irma: first reports on animals in the Caribbean islands, Hurricane Irma: Hemingway cats & dolphin rescuer Rick Trout rode it out in the Keys , and Hurricane Irma: survival stories from 24 zoos & sanctuaries .) Devastating as Hurricane Irma was to Caribbean habitat from Barbuda to the […]