Happy Tails – no hankies required – unless you’re the sort that cries with happiness!

In February, animal lovers were horrified to hear the sad story of  Zenda, the poor dog thrown over the fence at SAGA Humane Society. She had been used as a puppy machine, starved, chained and abused. As if that wasn’t enough, in June, people were again shocked to see the photos of Mocha, neglected so badly by her owner that a bite from another dog turned into a gaping, life threatening injury. Dogs are supposed to be ‘man’s best friend’ but when we let them down so badly, can they ever recover?

Luckily for both Mocha and Zenda, they ended up in the capable and caring hands of SAGA Humane Society. The SAGA team is very experienced in rehabilitating animals that have suffered greatly at the hands of humans. It turns
out that it wasn’t just Mocha and Zenda who got lucky though.

Zenda was adopted by a wonderful couple and now has a forever home with a good fence. She’ll never be chained again. Thanks to lots of love and attention, she’s back to her full weight, wagging, friendly and full of life and is bringing plenty of joy and security to her new owners. It is always so amazing to see how forgiving these terribly abused dogs are and how they learn to trust again when they are given some kindness.

Mocha, who is also another great SAGA success story is a wonderful example of how these ‘happy tails’ are not just about the dogs but about the people too. There’s a reason that dogs are called ‘man’s best friend’. Mocha’s new owners had this to say about their adoption experience.

“We were devastated when Storm, our dog of 13 years, unexpectedly died. We talked of her constantly…..every tiny corner of our property and lives, reminded us of her. She was family. Even our cat, Cleo, mourned ….and had quit eating and playing. They had been best friends and even hunted lizards together.

But life does go on and we realized that we needed a guard dog to take care of us. The idea was to go to Saga and get a dog for that purpose only. We could never love another dog.

At Fort Dog all the dogs got excited and we looked at many kinds and ages. They all said “pick me, pick me” and it was hard to ignore their sweet faces. Then this older, strange looking dog walked slowly over and put her neck against
my leg…just laid it there and leaned in. That was it – we decided to take a chance and take Mocha home on a “trial only” basis. We knew she had been hurt before but really didn’t know how badly.

When we took her home, the first couple of days were rough. She wanted to leave…to go back to the only place she had felt safe and people had treated her well..SAGA. And she cringed when we walked up to her like she thought she
would be hit. BUT, as she realized no one was going to hurt her and she had a HOME, she fit right in. She was very well behaved – to this day, she has never done anything to be reprimanded for…except eating the cat food once. And
she developed an instant bond with Cleo – who is now sleeping on the rug with her. We think Storm sent her to heal us and she certainly has become family now.

We urge everyone, who can afford to give a dog a good home, to go to Fort Dog and adopt a new family member. You will know the one for you as soon as you see him/her….you will FEEL it. It will change your life for the better. ”

If you would like to find out how you can help to create ‘Happy Tails’ at SAGA please call them on 226 2366 and they will help you to find your new best friend.

Saga Humane Society says Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who attended our Seafood Cook-off hosted by Crave Restaurant & Lounge.  We had a great time!  We got off to a bit of a late start as a couple of the entries came from the San Pablo & San Pedrito areas and the recent rains have not been kind to the roads making it a bit challenging to get around.  But the crowd was forgiving and in a wonderful mood which lasted throughout the whole evening.

First, a big ‘thank you’ to our host, Crave Restaurant & Lounge.  Kate & her staff were warm, welcoming and attentive.  Thank You Crave!  And of course, many thanks to all who entered a seafood entrée as all the dishes were outstanding!

Congratulations to the winners:  Third place went to Crave Restaurant & Lounge with their Glazed Fish Cakes.  They won a Hand Mixer courtesy of Saga.  Crave generous re-donated the prize for next month’s raffle.  Second place went to Pineapples located at Ramon’s Village.  Their dish was Stuffed Jalapeño Shrimp Wrapped w/ Bacon which won them a Trip to Lamanai for Two Courtesy of Searious Adventures.  And First Place went to Wahoo Lounge with their Lion Fish Cakes W/Creamy Chipotle Sauce.  They took home an IPod Shuffle.  Congratulations to you all!  And a big thank you to everyone who entered a seafood dish:  ‘Sushi’ Sharon Metcalfe with her Sea Bass Fish Fingers w/Dill Tartar; Lily’s Restaurant with their Shrimp & Conch Ceviche; Edgar Lima with his Variety Fish Fingers w/Island Dressing & Noemi Castro with her Shrimp Cocktail w/Corn Tortilla Chips.  Thank you all

There were four raffles for the night.  Cindy Beer won lunch for two from Ramon’s Village.  LouAnn LeClair won a Bailey’s & Starbuck Coffee Basket courtesy of Rebecca McDonald.  Jan Brown won a condiment set courtesy of tacogirl.  And Rebecca Coutant, a.k.a. SanPedroScoop, won a toaster courtesy of Saga.  Thank you to our donors and winners!

Thank you to everyone who came out to support us.  See you at the next cook-off:  Wednesday, November 16th at Wahoo Lounge – theme to be announced next week.  Please join us on the beach & come out & support Saga Humane Society – a great cause for the community of Ambergris Caye.  And a fun night for the whole family!

Saga is pleased to announce our 8th Annual Halloween Party October 30 in Central Park.