Bonny the Superdog

Six years after Canadian veterinarian Dr. Cheryl Yuill participated in the Bonaire Animal Shelter’s first free sterilization program in 2004, she returned to Bonaire.
Accompanied by Canadian veterinarian Dr. Mary Lovie who owns a house on Bonaire and who started the whole campaign up at the time, she visited the Shelter. “I’m glad to see so much has changed,”

Left to right: Dr. Mary Lovie, Dr. Cheryl Yuill, Shelter employee Kenneth Piar and Shelter manager Marlies Tiepel

Dr. Yuill says. “There are far fewer stray dogs on the street and the public awareness has become so much better. Several people have come up to me when they heard I was part of the first sterilization program to tell me very proudly that their dog was sterilized! I am also very impressed with the little house the Shelter has built outside their gate for people to put their unwanted animals or animals they’ve found. It’s nicer than the one we have at the shelter I work with in Canada. There we get about 2,500 cats and 1,000 dogs a year that people cannot take care of anymore. Many of those animals are adopted out, but it’s not a no-kill shelter; we also euthanize animals.

In Canada I own and work at the Blue Cross Animal Hospital, in Kitchener, Ontario, and it was my colleague, Dr. Mary Lovie, who took the initiative for the sterilization campaign in 2004.

“I came to Bonaire in 2000 to dive,” Dr. Mary Lovie says, “and in my spare time I looked up the Animal Shelter and I had a conversation with Jurrie, who was the manager in those days, about all the strays downtown and was anything done about them. I offered my services to Jurrie and he took me to Hans and Etty Lambeek, the veterinarian couple who were then running the animal clinic at Kaminda Lagun. They were very interested when they heard I’d organized similar sterilization projects in other parts of the world. So, we had several meetings in the following years and in 2004 we hit it off: the two Dutch vets, three American vets and Cheryl and me from Canada. We all brought our own instruments and all the other supplies, and Hans and Etty brought the drugs. From October 14th till October 31st we sterilized 302 animals and it continued after we left.

In conclusion: We’re very happy to see the island has picked up on our program, and it’s heartwarming to see the benefits. We’re highly impressed with the new sterilization campaign the Animal Shelter started last year in May. They’ve sterilized almost 500 animals. It’s been very good progress. Amazing!”

Greta Kooistra, Bonaire Reporter, March 19- April 9, 2010

On May 15th. the Bonaire Animal Shelter started Bonny the Superdog, a free sterilization campaign for pets. As a result, 200 dogs and 20 cats have been sterilized.

Too many dogs on Bonaire.
Bonaire’s dog population is enormous and growing.  Many dogs roam loose and females often get pregnant at an early age. As a result, new puppies are born daily and many do not have a home. They often become strays–looking for food, becoming sick and aggressive, causing trouble. Because of these problems, about 1000 dogs are put to sleep annually.  We can prevent this senseless suffering.

Already 200 dogs sterilized!
In the last 3 months, the Bonaire Animal Shelter has sterilized 200 dogs and 20 cats. Potentially, each female dog can give birth to 10 puppies a year.  If 200 female dogs are sterilized, there will be 2000 fewer puppies born. 2000 additional dogs would be extremely problematic for a small island like Bonaire. Many of these dogs would end up roaming the streets, and living a terrible life of hunger and disease.

Help needed
Bonny the Superdog is a sterilization campaign financed by the Bonaire Animal Shelter. To date, the shelter has received much support from their employees, volunteers, veterinarians and others who worked hard everyday to make this campaign successful.
But to continue the sterilization campaign, we need money. You can help by making a financial donation! Read the rest of this entry »

This stray dog and her 8 puppies were found in an abondoned house in Antriol, Bonaire. The owners of this house moved and left their dog, a pregnant female, behind. Fortunately friendly neighbours rescued this dog and brought her and the puppies to the Bonaire Animal Shelter.

To reduce the overload of pet animals on Bonaire, the shelter promotes spaying and neutering of pets to prevent unwanted litters.  Adult shelter animals are sterilized before adoption. When adopting a pup or kitten, the new owner is required to sign a commitment to have that pet sterilized when it is about 6 months old.

In 2008 the Animal Shelter Bonaire took care of the sterilization of 250 dogs and cats.  This year, 2009, we’re aiming to sterilize 500 more dogs - for free - as the problems on the island involving stray dogs are becoming more and more severe.

Apart from sterilizing the animals we also want the residents of Bonaire to become more consious of the importancy of having their animals neutered, not only to prevent suffering amongst the animals but also for their own peace of mind.

Our sterilization campaign  Bonny the Superdog has been set up by our loyal volunteers; T-shirts and flyers have been designed and printed, all is pre-financed by us and May 15th 2009 we’re officialy starting the campaign.

Of course we  need money for all this, we are ready to work extra hard and make extra hours taking care of the operated animals before they go back to where they came from and… we’re counting on people like you to make this campaign a success and to help us financially to reach our goal and  make the island a better place for all creatures.

And of course we will keep you informed and updates about the campaign and it’s results as we’re moving on…