Ithaca... The Tompkins County SPCA is taking in four dogs all the way from the Bahamas. They will arrive at the Syracuse International Airport from Freeport, Grand Bahamas Island on Thursday night, May 25 at 9:28 pm (Delta Airlines Flight no. 1504). Rounded up during a disastrous canine distemper outbreak that struck the island nation during January and claimed the lives of uncounted hundreds of dogs, these four survivors were brought to the Humane Society of Grand Bahamas Island and vaccinated in time to be saved.

In February, Dr. Bridget Barry, Medical Director at the Tompkins County SPCA, answered a plea from veterinarians in Freeport to help cope with an unprecedented wave of distemper, a disease that is nearly always fatal to dogs and promises a slow and painful death. Because of her experience as an active member of V-MAT, the national Veterinary Medical Assistance team (a branch of the Federal Emergency Management Agency), Dr. Barry was accustomed to animal related disasters and had already worked extensively in animal rescue and treatment in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf.

Because few dogs in the Bahamas are vaccinated, the strays spread the disease quickly after many were displaced by three successive hurricanes that slammed the Bahamas last fall. When she arrived in Freeport, Dr. Barry’s mission was twofold – to vaccinate and provide shelter for those dogs who were still healthy, and to euthanize those who’d already contracted the disease in order to prevent its spread and in order to put the animals out of their misery.

The Tompkins County SPCA contributed vaccine to the effort, which Dr. Barry carted from shack to shack, making house calls the old fashioned way. She was able to shelter and re-home many of the uninfected dogs. But the kill rate in the Bahamas, where humanitarian efforts are overwhelmed by a lack of resources, is exactly the opposite of what the TC SPCA has achieved with its best in the United States save rate; whereas the TC SPCA saves some 19 in 20 animals, only 1 in 20 shelter animals in the Bahamas finds a home and avoids being killed.

So the TC SPCA decided to bring four of the last survivors to America where the shelter can guarantee them loving new homes in upstate New York. Dr. Barry will transport them by van from the airport to the shelter, where she will evaluate them before they’re made available for adoption. Having adopted one dog from the Bahamas already, Dr. Barry says, “I’m thrilled that the SPCA is going to find homes from these wonderful dogs.” TC SPCA Executive Director added, “It’ll be great to welcome these dogs to upstate New York, and I’m just glad the dogs don’t have to deal with any immigration laws!”

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