PAW has fixed 5,000 dogs, cats

A black dog under PAW BVI’s care joined more than 100 human attendees last Thursday at Government House to celebrate the non-profit organisation’s recent accomplishment of sponsoring the spaying or neutering of 5,000 dogs and cats across the territory.

PAW, which was founded in 2014, passed the milestone last week, according to founder and president Natasha Ruscheinski.

Attendees to the Thursday event enjoyed drinks and canapes while placing bids in the silent and live auctions to raise money to help the organisation continue its mission.

The black dog, named Jess, calmly lay near PAW volunteer Alison Knights, receiving pats and scratches from guests throughout the evening.

All told, 150 tickets were sold and about $17,000 was raised, according to Ms. Ruscheinski.

Overpopulation

Spaying and neutering are the best way to address overpopulation of dogs and cats, Ms. Ruscheinski said.

“There are not enough people to adopt all the animals that are being born,” she said. “You can build 50 shelters and they would be full within a couple of months. So spaying and neutering is where we can actually address the problem head-on. And it’s the most humane way we can prevent litters from being born.”

PAW provides the service free for residents who can’t afford it on Tortola and the sister islands, she said.

“There are so many barriers to having it done, which we try to circumvent,” Ms. Ruscheinski said.

Trouble finding transportation is one of the biggest problems for pet owners who live on sister islands, she added.

With the help of volunteers, PAW provides transport, carriers and aftercare for the animals.

Besides addressing overpopulation, spaying and neutering also provide health benefits to animals, such as preventing roaming, aggression and some types of cancer, according to PAW fundraising volunteer Amy Edmonds.

“It’s actually a really important thing as a loving owner of a pet to get your animals spayed or neutered,” Ms. Edmonds said.

5,000 cats and dogs

As attendees placed their bids for the silent auction, they also browsed signs showing a breakdown of the 5,000 animals fixed in the territory since 2014.

As of last Thursday, PAW had facilitated the spaying of 1,884 cats and 993 dogs as well as the neutering of 1,542 cats and 581 dogs, according to the organisation.

Partway through the evening, Governor Daniel Pruce addressed the crowd.

“Just thinking about the size of the organisation, the size of the Virgin Islands, 5,000 is just incredible,” he said. “And what an enormous contribution that’s made to the health and well-being of the cats and dogs here.”