Dog & Cat Rescue Stories, Kingston, Jamaica (June 2026)
- Animal-Kind International
- 10 minutes ago
- 4 min read
One of the most exciting things we've been able to do for our Partner Kingston Community Animal Welfare is purchase a Rescue & Spay/Neuter Mobile. With funding from Animal-Kind International, KCAW purchased a used, sturdy SUV for their trips around Kingston (and sometimes beyond) to check on, feed, and provide care (parasite treatment, wound care, etc) for cats and dogs, and to rescue them, carry them to a vet, and for spay/neuter.
As you can imagine--since KCAW feeds and watches over around 1000 cats and dogs living on Kingston's streets or at homes and businesses where they get no real care, the vehicle is getting a lot of mileage, all for the sake of Jamaica's cats and dogs.
These are some of KCAW's recent cases.
In March, a message arrived in my inbox from Althea: "I am writing to you today with deep concern regarding the welfare of dogs in Jamaica particularly in Spanish Town. I observed that many of the dogs are very ill and in a deplorable condition and believe immediate intervention is necessary to relieve suffering. Please, Please help!!"
Immediately, I got in touch with Deborah/KCAW and she got in touch with Althea.
Over the next month, they worked together to get help for these dogs and in May, I received this message from Althea:
"I would like to extend my deepest gratitude for your generous assistance to the suffering street dogs. The medicine and food have made a significant impact on the health and well being of these homeless dogs. You can see the difference in the before and after pictures I sent you (two are below). Ms Deborah has been very instrumental in caring for these neglected dogs. Through her help, I was able to give eight dogs the food and medicine they badly needed."
Although it's not a permanent solution, the dogs were given a reprieve from their suffering and females were spayed (a permanent fix).
This little dog is a very lucky little dog! Deborah saw this little shih tzu X poodle mix running along a busy road in the pouring rain. Cars were speeding by and he looked scared and frantic.
Deborah wrote, "I made every effort to coax him towards a quiet side road. It worked! But he ran off down that road as well and into the Forestry department compound. He hid under a van and eluded me again running back towards the busy main road!! I lost sight of him but as I drove I kept stopping to ask bystanders if they saw him, most saying yes and pointing down the road. For a little guy he was fast!!!
Eventually a man told me he ran into used car lot. I asked the security guard to PLEASE close the gate and he did. By now I was so tired and exhausted from the chase which by now had reached its second hour. Yes that's how long i was chasing this little guy !!! Finally he got himself caught behind some building supplies so I paid 2 guys to help me box him in.Â
We finally caught him. He spent 2 days at the vet (he was fine minor bruises and scratches).
I posted him on several groups online to see if he was lost. Nobody came forward. And soon after that, I found the perfect home for him, with Gregory who loves and adores him!!"
KCAW helps several people who take care of feral cat colonies to feed and spay/neuter the cats. And Deborah watches over some feral cat colonies on her own. These are two beauties who are recent additions to KCAW's feeding rounds and are in line to be spayed (or neutered, we're not sure!)
Harvey is another lucky dog, rescued by KCAW. He was dumped, probably because he had mange:
KCAW treated his mange, he had his vaccinations, and then he was adopted!
A woman contacted the Jamaica Facebook rescue group: she was renting a room at a house and in the yard, a dog was hiding and had been living for about a year, in a drain pipe. The dog would come out only when no one was around. Someone from the rescue group checked out the situation and tried for weeks to lure the dog without any luck.
So Deborah gave it a try. She realized that he needed to trust her, so she visited four days a week and spent time sitting with him in the drain pipe. It got to the point where he'd appear when he heard Deborah's voice. But still, she couldn't get near.
Deborah wrote, "I knew this was not a job for one person. I needed help. So I put out an SOS to a bunch of German visitors who were visiting for Carnival. It was tough but eventually we got him! I took him to the vet clinic where he was boarded and socialized and they were able to find him a home! (Watch the video below of the capture)
This is Deborah, the person behind all these amazing rescues of cats and dogs in Kingston, Jamaica.
