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Island Dog is changing the way animals are treated in the United States Caribbean Islands. We are working beyond the rescue aspect and moving forward with a spay/neuter program for Puerto Rico. We believe in prevention, and we believe together we can change the world....even if it's one dog's world at a time.
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| Shirley, Island Dog Mascot |
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| Island Dog Mascot, Shirley was once a homeless sata (a Puerto Rican Mutt). Today Shirley is living the life of a princess with her mom, Katie Block, founder and director of Island Dog Inc. Shirley enjoys greeting and playing with the hotel guests at the Island Dog Hotel. In her spare time she loves to go swimming and surfing at the beach.
If you would like to follow Shirley and her fabulous life,
Like Shirley on Facebook!!!
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| Katie E. Block |
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| In 1999, Katie Block moved from her home town of Baltimore, MD to Fajardo, Puerto Rico. There she worked at the El Conquistador Resort & Country Club. She was looking for paradise. She found thousands of emaciated & homeless dogs wondering the streets and beaches. As a huge animal lover, Katie immediately started a crusade to rescue and help the dogs. She managed to convince hotel guests to adopt dogs, and even enlisted her parents to help her send dogs to the states. But reality hit hard when she found herself spending her rent money on vet bills. In 2002, she returned to Baltimore to complete her Bachelors degree. After graduation she traveled extensively around the world, but always found herself returning to the same place, Puerto Rico. During these trips Katie realized that her passion to help the animals in the U.S. Caribbean was to great to ignore. Hence she decided to create Island Dog Inc. in the summer of 2006.
Today, Katie works as our director from our Island Dog office in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. She continuously works to raise awareness around the world about the cruelties animal face in the U.S. Caribbean. Her ultimate goal is to place an animal education system in every school in Puerto Rico.
You can learn more about Katie by reading her blog: JOURNAL
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| Michelle D. Biasucci |
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| Michelle Biasucci traveled to Puerto Rico on family vacations. While she loved the beaches and Caribbean vibe, she felt heartbroken seeing hundreds of homeless dogs roaming the island. She felt passionate about helping the dogs and joined Island Dog ready and willing to give her time to help the dogs. She adopted her first foster, Daisy who she renamed Febe! Michelle helps us with office work, fostering dogs, and fund raising. She is by far the most out spoken of our volunteers. Her passion and lust for a better life is why she is a great asset to our organization. Michelle resides in Joppa, Maryland with her two dogs Febe & Jackson and her son Dominic.
Michelle is our Vice President, running our Baltimore office.
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| Maggie Sanchez |
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Maggie Sanchez is our Los Machos beach feeder and caretaker. Maggie has been taking care of the dogs since 2002. We like to refer to her as a SAINT. She solely takes care of up to 200 dogs a day, feeding and giving medications for flea/tick, heartworm prevention and infections. Come rain or heat Maggie is there to fed the puppies & care for the sick. She has a heart of gold. Most of the dogs in Ceiba know and love Maggie.
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| Eileen Oprins |
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Eileen Oprins is a nurse in Sycamore, Illinois. She became a volunteer for Island Dog after reading about our work in PEOPLE Magazine, in May 2008. Although Eileen has 6 kids, she still makes time to foster and care for our island doggies. Eileen coordinates our foster care in Chicago, helping adopt-out over 100+ of our island dogs into forever homes. Eileen also travels to Puerto Rico frequently to help us administer medications and perform medical procedures to dogs in need. Eileen is our Petfinder Administrator!!!
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| Alison Trazzera |
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| Alison Trazzera resides in Absecon, New Jersey. She became involved with Island Dog in 2008. Alison is a key fund-rasing coordinator, chairing our annual "The Dead Dog Beach Bash" held in Atlantic City. She also assists with festival appearances, shelter placements, raising awareness, and dog transportation. Alison is the proud mom of Tony, an Island Dog Rescue!
Alison works for Island Dog in her home office in Absecon, New Jersey.
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| Katrina Pape |
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Katy Pape visited Puerto Rico in 2008. During her visit she was shocked by the number of homeless dogs. Along with her mother Maria, Katy and Maria rescued several dogs from the Fajardo Ferry Docks during their vacation. They then contacted Island Dog for support and to help our mission. Katy is now a full time volunteer, helping us with transportation, foster care, and volunteering her time for big beach projects. Katy is a lawyer at a Manhattan law firm and the proud owner of Coco, a Puerto Rican rescue!
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| Sandy Peterson & Frida |
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Sandy Peterson, a Chicago native, moved to Fajardo, Puerto Rico in 2005. Sandy, a huge dog lover, immediately began helping the dogs in Las Croabas. In 2008 she joined Island Dog and assisted us by fostering dogs, organizing and transporting dogs to the airport and providng medications and food to the beach dogs. In 2009, Sandy moved to California. She now helps us coordinate fundraising with local hotels in Puerto Rico, like The El Conquistador Resort and Country Club.
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