Honduras ~ Helping Hands for Hounds

Helping Dogs, Cats, and Birds

I was working in Honduras, when a colleague, who knew of my interest in animal welfare, told me that I should meet her neighbor. Pilar Thorn, an American ornithology professor, has been feeding and caring for dogs and cats on the streets of Tegucigalpa for over 30 years-and for the last 11 years, taking dogs, cats, and birds into her home for care.

I visited Pilar, and the rescue cats and dogs she was treating at her house. And since that night, about five years ago, we have continued our conversation about how to improve life for dogs and cats and bring more attention and resources in support of her efforts in Honduras.

Throughout Tegucigalpa, Pilar goes about feeding dogs and cats that live on the street, and if they are approachable, treating them for parasites with Ivomectin, vaccinating, sterilizing, giving them love, and educating people on proper care. When a dog or cat is especially in need or in danger on the streets, she brings the animal home with her for more intensive care. Then she tries to find homes for the dogs, cats, and birds that she determines are adoptable-but only if she finds someone who she can be sure will provide proper care.

There are several animal welfare groups in Tegucigalpa, and Pilar has volunteered with most of them at some point. However, she chose to start her own organization since the existing ones were not working to improve the lives of dogs and cats living on the streets of Tegucigalpa, where stray dogs and cats were being abused, poisoned, hit by vehicles, and starving. While she works independently now, she does collaborate when teamed efforts are needed to help animals (for example, on a specific campaign-like anti-poisoning-it is more useful to work as a team). Having formed her own organization, Pilar finds that she can help more animals, and solve problems quicker when she works on her own-she gets frustrated by the slow pace and bureaucratic nature of many animal organizations. And by working independently, she keeps cordial relationships with all groups. There are so many suffering animals on the Tegucigalpa streets, and Pilar is the only person who is out there, in the communities, helping these dogs and cats, talking directly to the people who live among these needy animals.

Having rescued so many animals over the years-probably close to 200, she now has 22 of her own dogs, three cats, and four parrots at her house, all of these, rescues.

On a personal note, Pilar is one of the hardest working animal welfare advocates, working in one of the toughest environments that I know. She is a university professor who uses all her influence and even has jeopardized her career for dogs, cats, and other animals.

Pilar recently reports to us that during finals at her university, UNAH, she also had to bury one of the dogs she had adopted out five years ago and treat 24/7 a sick macaw and a dog that appears to have had a stroke.

Dogs and Cats in Tegucigalpa

In Tegucigalpa, there is a constant threat that City government will use poison to try to control strays. The threat emerges, animal welfare groups band together to fight it, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. If successful, the threat is usually just postponed to a later date.

Most dogs and cats in Tegucigalpa are not sterilized, and since the majority are not confined, over-population is a huge problem. Dogs can be found digging in garbage piles, wandering the city's streets, slowly starving to death. It's common to see injured dogs as you drive around the city; they may have been intentionally or accidentally hit by cars, had rocks thrown at them or boiling water poured on them. Kindness to animals is not a widely held ideal among many Hondurans.

Most Hondurans keep dogs to warn them of thieves breaking into their homes or attacking them while they are working in their fields. It is rare for Hondurans to allow dogs into the house or pet them, and many do not even feed them. Of course, Pilar says, "There are exceptions. I have given two three-day courses to University students on first aid for animals, and this experience has given me some hope that things can change." Cats usually come out at night and spend their time searching for food and avoiding dogs. It is rare for people to keep cats as pets, and they are almost never sterilized.

Pilar's Way Forward in Honduras Pilar recently captured the attention of many Hondurans. One of Tegucigalpa's daily newspapers, La Tribuna, published an article about Pilar's work, and since then she has been receiving emails from people about abandoned, dying, and mistreated dogs and cats, asking her to pick them up and help them. Also, after the article appeared, a Rottweiler mix was left at Pilar's house for her to care for.

She is hoping that the attention focused on her by this article will bring renewed energy to her effort to start a shelter in Tegucigalpa. Her colleague, Jorge Ferrari, who has an organization for rescuing amphibians and reptiles, has offered to provide the land for building the Nereida Montes de Oca Shelter for abused and abandoned pets in Tatumbla.

Pilar's Request

A few veterinarians in Tegucigalpa help Pilar out and she works closely with them to provide necessary veterinary care for the dogs, cats, and birds in her charge. Veterinary drugs are expensive, and though some vets will give her reduced rates for their services, she is unable to cover the costs of the drugs for all the animals in need.

Pilar would like to have veterinary medicine donated, and if any veterinarians are traveling to Honduras and able to bring controlled substances, she would like to be in touch. Please contact us if you can help.

Pilar also needs dog and cat food, and flea and tick control products.

Monetary donations are also welcomed to help defray costs of her street dog and cat care, care of the animals at her home, and to provide funds for the eventual construction and operation of a shelter in Tegucigalpa.