The struggle to save dogs on the island of Saipan

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(Reuters) – Like thousands of other dogs and cats, Pumpkin had lived on the streets of the tropical Pacific island of Saipan before ending up at the Mayor’s Dog Control Shelter.

Deemed too traumatized for adoption, she was put on a euthanasia list.

But Pumpkin was one of the lucky ones. Lauren Cabrera, the animal health officer at the Department of Land and Natural Resources of the Northern Mariana Islands, decided to adopt Pumpkin herself, taking her back to the home she shares with her husband and children.

Most dogs in Saipan are not so fortunate.

There are roughly 42,000 human residents of Saipan, and more than 21,000 stray dogs – an unusually high ratio that means many wander the streets and chances of adoption are slim.

The Mayor’s Dog Control Shelter says it has no choice but to euthanize between 20 and 40 dogs and cats every Friday, many of them healthy.

“I used to get mad about euthanasia when I first moved out here,” said Cabrera, 35, who has lived in Saipan since 2012 and is originally from New Hampshire. “I was like, ‘Why the heck are the shelters euthanizing so many animals? Can’t they just save them and find them a home or keep them until they find a home?’ And the reality is, no.

“The adoption rate is really, really low, like 1 or 2% on Saipan. So then you’ve got 1,000 dogs. What are you going to do with them?”

The feral dogs on Saipan, referred to locally as “boonie dogs,” are largely descended from dogs brought to the small island in World War Two by U.S. troops, Cabrera said.

Adoption of the animals by those who do not live in the remote U.S. territory in the western Pacific Ocean is fraught with logistical issues and costly.

So Cabrera has co-founded the Boonie Flight Project, an all-volunteer transport-based rescue that has sent 618 dogs from Guam and Saipan to adopters and rescues in the mainland United States.

“After a euthanasia day, I usually feel pretty depleted,” she said. “It’s hard to see so many animals die. I try my best to … shift my focus onto, ‘I’m going to save these guys this week.'”

(Reporting by Aleksandra Michalska in New York; Writing by Rosalba O’Brien; Editing by Matthew Lewis)