Dreams Do Come True.

During the first week of our two week program we stayed at the Hotel Plaza, a Gran Caribe property, in Havana.

It is an economical hotel, in a prime location, on the edge of Parque Central.

The roof top restaurant is where the buffet breakfast is made available.

Dairne worked on her "service" skills.

You can book a stay at the Hotel Plaza, and other properties, through the Spanky Project.

A portion of your booking goes to support our work in Cuba.

Book hotel, air and car rentals with our partner Cuba Travel Network.

After breakfast it was off to work.

Susana, our Spanky Project Havana based coordinator, arranged transport for us.

Alberto, Susana's plumber, has a very nice set of wheels.

 

Each one of our visits to Cuba builds upon what has gone before.

For years, many have expressed concerns about the treatment of animals in and around resorts.

As strays increase in numbers, both dogs and cats, the resorts call "the dog catcher" to remove them.

The end is not always humane. 

Preliminary talks are now turning to action.
Humane population control programs are in the works.
We thank Cuban Hotel Group Gran Caribe for listening to our presentations.

On this morning we met with Noemi Sanchez Rodriguez-Dir. Negocios y Desarrollo, Gran Caribe.

We discussed a pilot project that has been developed in collaboration with our great friends at 

APAC - Varadero. 

This pilot project will launch at Hotel Villa Trópico and the environs of Playa Jibacoa.
A "Carta de Intención"(an official letter of intention) is being drafted and we will have more details shortly.

APAC - Varadero have been saviours and advocates for the animals of

 Cardenas, Matanzas and Varadero.

In collaboration with APAC's; Ingrid, Hanoi, Slavik and others we know this program will be a success and a model for the rest of Cuba's resort areas.

Together, and with your help, we will create a harmonious relationship between the:

 local community, 

vacationers, 

animals,

and 

the environment.

Special thanks go to Emma Clifford, of Animal Balance, for her advice and support of our ongoing program development.

Emma - Noemi - Terry

Ahead of the veterinarians arrival we dropped off our supplies. 

Much to our delight, we found Dra. Rocio and Vet Tech Frank in the middle of a clinic makeover.

Rocio and Frank were placed with us by 

Carlos III's Director Miguel Angel .
Their above and beyond the call of duty effort boded well for our future collaboration.

 As final touches were put on the reception area we had a planning session with Rocio and Frank.

 Many came together to make this happen and I thank you all.

 Flashback (Feb, 2012 trip)

"If I wish really hard ...

... maybe a campaña at Carlos III could be a reality." 

 The dream did come true.

Seamos realistas y hagamos lo imposible -Che

In preparation for the arrival of our veterinarians and first day of surgery 

Dairne and Alberto delivered traps.

Tony stayed behind at the clinic doing the overnight firewatch.

Others were not so comfortable and spent the night in Parque Central.

Gearing Up!

It was "hurricane season".

Weather would prove to dampen our efforts during this visit.

But this "callejero", or dog street, found a new water bowl.

Our sponsoring Cuban NGO SPCMA provided a great space for our
orientation of Habana Vieja colony keepers.

With the success of sterilization campañas of dogs in Old Havana, feral cats have thrived.

SPCMA, an NGO under the Office of the Historian, supported our proposal for 

Cuba's first mass TNR for cats.

During each trip we meet wonderful and fascinating Cubans.
This visit did not disappoint.

After our orientation meeting we were invited to the gallery of Amelia and Angel.

Terracota 4 Galería-Estudio

Calle Mercaderes 156 Calles Obrapía y Lamparilla

Studio and gallery for Amelia and Angel.

Amelia Carballo    Angel Nornielle

This was to be designated as the HQ (headquarters) for our work in Habana Vieja.

Should you come across their gallery during your strolling in Old Havana

stick your head in the door and say hello from Terry and the Spanky Project.
They may put a pot of coffee on for you.

From Amelia and Angel's local we walked to Plaza de Armas to visit book vendor Marta.

Daily, Marta feeds a colony of near thirty cats.

 

They have made themselves at home in a building slated for renovations.

It was pointed out to us that sites designated for "repurposeing"have become homes to colonies.
We are working with the Office of the Historian to target these sites and to incorporate them in our TNR program.

Here is some video.

After these cats are trapped and sterilized we tip one of their ears.

If you see cats in Habana Vieja with a tipped ear you will see our work.

After our visit with Marta we dropped into our clinic.

Welcome to the home of our Havana TNR.

This was our first look this trip. Check in later to see the makeover.

Yes, we work hard but we also take some time to enjoy some of what Havana has to offer.

On Saturday's, there is a wonderful art walk on "the Prado".

Which, by the way, is my favourite street in the whole world.

Dairne and Emma visit with an artist Emma had come to know on a previous trip.
He makes unique art pieces out of found objects.

OK, back to the cats.

One thing that struck me was cat colonies that have keepers seem to have one dog.

Toby is the lone dog in a house of eleven cats.

Some may find our typical day exhaustion.

Tony managed to have the occasional "cat nap" through out our busy days.

Our final orientation was held in  Luyanó  district of the municipio Diez de Octubre.

Our first contact with Municipal IMV Director Dr. Harry Stamatopolos Mpountos was in February 2012.

This is the "consultorio" where he and his veterinary crew work.

We began our meeting outdoors. 

Soon after commencing we had a surprise visit from a good friend.

Dr.Pavel Herrera (in orange) arrived much to everyone's delight.
Dr.Harry (in white) was equally pleased.

Pavel is the Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - Universidad Agraria de La Habana.
He took some time to reminisce with former students.

No digital projectors and screens here. 

We all huddled around a laptop.

After our meeting it was back to works for the veterinary staff.
The morning appointments had begun to gather.

It is an honour to collaborate with the Cuban veterinary community.

It is heartening to see the love and care many give their pets.

Some are not as fortunate as they sleep in the streets or in this case the welcome mat of the

Hotel Parque Central.

The implementation of humane population control programs are the cornerstones of a 

brighter future.

Help us help Cubans help their animals.

Charitable Donation Tax Credit

Would you like to help Cubans help their animals and get a tax deduction at the same time?

The 

Spanky Project and Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund (MAC PAPS)

can make that happen for you.

Donations by cheque or money order should be sent to ...

Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund

Attention - Sharon Skup

56 Riverwood Terrace

Bolton, ONL7E 1S4

MAC PAPS is a Canadian charitable organization.

Their registration and details can be found here
Canadian Registered Charities -Detail Page

 (Revenue Canada Charitable registration#88876 9197RR0001)

Make your cheque payable to the "Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund" and please write "Spanky Project" on the memo line.

If you file tax returns in the USA you can give to our partners
Animal Balance.
You can designate your donation to our TNR programs.

Should you care not for a tax deduction there is always PayPal.

TNR - Act I

On October 12th, we headed back to Havana.

This trip would feature Cuba's first massive

TNR

Trap - Neuter - Return

of cats.

Firstly, I would like to thank  ...

Alley Cat Allies

Their donation of 24 humane traps was a huge contribution to this pilot program.

 Air Transat 

for shipping the traps, free of charge, to Varadero.

&

Ingrid Bonamusa Medina
Ingrid lives in Cardenas, Cuba and is very active in animal welfare work with APAC-Varadero.
She retrieved the traps from the airport and delivered them to Havana.

Actually, this trip was three years in the making.

In July of 2009 Emma Clifford, founder and director of Animal Balance,

 sent me an exploratory email.

She was looking for ways in which her amazing group could assist our work in Cuba.

In September of 2011 Emma and I discussed how the stray dog population of Habana Vieja had been reduced significantly. To the point where colonies of cats were making themselves known.

The gestation period for project development is not short.

Despite all the logistically and bureaucratic struggles, in October 2012,

 Cuba's first TNR program was born.

The Players

Emma & Dairne

Emma Clifford

Emma holds a degree in Sociology with an emphasis in research from The University of Central England.  She moved to San Francisco in 1994 and for 12 years worked for animal protection gaining experience in the local, national and international levels. She managed and expanded the SF/SPCA Feral Cat program, working closely with The SF Animal Control facility to reduce the number of animals euthanized via community based volunteer programs and helped pave the way for similar programs across the US.

In 2002 she found out that the cats and dogs of the Galapagos Islands were being poisoned. She founded Animal Balance in 2003 to address the problem directly and humanely. Since 2003 AB has expanded to help islands globally. Emma speaks at conferences around the world helping other countries to start high volume MASH clinics and gives advice on humane animal management strategies.


Emma became vegan when a teenager, she worked to stop fox hunting and other cruel practices in the UK and continues to press for animal rights in the US and abroad. She is owned by her four dogs Isabela, Merlin, Zak and Sage and two cats Ra and Mac; but often has more beings in her care.

Dairne Ryan

Emma enlisted the expertise of a long time friend from the "TNR World"

Dairne was born in Seattle, Washington  She lived in Mexico City as a child, speaks Spanish fluently, and has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area throughout her adult life.  She is a health care account executive, working primarily with California public schools.  She is on the board of two humane organizations that provide high-volume spay-neuter clinics and promote spay-neuter as the method for humanely reducing overpopulation of dogs and cats.  

She has worked with Fix Our Ferals in the San Francisco East Bay for over 13 years, holding free high-volume spay-neuter clinics for feral and neighborhood cats.  Fix Our Ferals has now opened its own spay-neuter center with a goal of doing 5,000 sterilizations in the first year.   Dairne has participated in numerous Animal Balance spay-neuter campaigns and humane education programs in the Galapagos Islands and the Dominican Republic.

  Tony "El Tigre"

Our TNR mascot and demonstration model.

A lot of preproduction went into this program.
I will touch upon that in future posts.

For now ...
Welcome to our first TNR orientation for colony keepers.

Held at Quinta de Los Molinos, the areas of municipalities of 

Plaza,Vedado and Centro were represented.

Emma, with Dairne translating, presented the TNR program

After the benefits of TNR were outlined it was down to demonstrating trapping.

Tony played his role to the max as a captured cat.

As you can see, our colony keepers felt for him.

After orientation we visited the colonies.

At 5:30 pm --every day-- forty cats congregate at the entrance of this building located in the Plaza district.

 

They wait for Ada and their daily feeding.

Ada exits the building and walks them to the back of the property.

 

We soon discovered some of these colony cats could be caught by trusted hands.

Given that we only had 24 traps, this helped.
We hope to have more traps delivered to Cuba for our future TNRs.

But more traps mean nothing if you do not have community support.
Ada has that!

Another colony stop was to the one time home of the acclaimed 

Cuban poet  Dulce Maria Loynaz.

 

Although in a state of neglect, this is home to several families and many cats.

Our nocturnal colony tour ended near the Hotel Riviera.

I have to wonder whether Emma and Dairne were still looking for cats.

 This was a two week trip.
Our first week was preparation and orientation. 
Our second saw the arrival of the rest of our international cast.


Please check back.