Two dogs that crossed the Florida Straits with migrants on the mend in Key Largo

Two dogs that crossed the Florida Straits with migrants on the mend in
Key Largo

"Sweet dogs" are recuperating at the Key Largo Animal Shelter
Pets arrived in Islamorada on sailboat with Cuban mgrants
BY KEVIN WADLOW

Two migrants aboard a rough-hewn Cuban sailboat that made landfall early
last Thursday in Islamorada were left off the passenger list written by
U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Instead, the two were turned over to another agency -- Monroe County's
Key Largo Animal Shelter.

"They're sweet dogs," said animal control officer Lauren McKnight, who
picked them up at Cheeca Lodge and Resort, where the sailboat grounded
in the early morning.

Federal and local law enforcement were keeping watch over a dozen men
and two women who said they left the northern coastal town of Caibarien
five days previously.

McKnight was directed to the 13th male migrant, who "was sitting there
with two dogs," she said.

"We've received Cuban dogs before but the last one, a Chihuahua, was
several years ago," shelter director Marsha Garrettson said. "It's not
something we expect."

Both of Thursday's mixed-breed arrivals, a male and female weighing 30
to 40 pounds, showed the effects of the long trip on a crowded boat.

"When they got here, they attacked their food," Garrettson said. "They
were ravenous." Also dirty, scared and exhausted.

The male had suffered an open facial cut that required immediate
treatment. "He also had tar sticking to his feet. We don't know if those
injuries happened aboard the boat or before," Garrettson said.

The names of the dogs, each estimated to be at least a year old, were
not known due to the brief time McKnight spent with the owner. Through
an interpreter, McKnight asked the migrant if he intended to reclaim
them, or let them be adopted out.

"He said if didn't want them, he would have left them" in Cuba, McKnight
recounted.

McKnight understood. "If you have an animal, it seems you should take it
wherever you go," she said.

Garrettson offered a mild dissent. "It's one thing to decide to risk
your own life" on a dangerous crossing of the Florida Straits, she said.
"Why risk other lives? It's not like the dogs had a choice."

Shannon Kuner, McKnight and other Humane Animal Care Coalition shelter
staff bathed the immigrant dogs and started a regimen of vaccinations
while watching for signs of possible medical problems.

The dogs, still shy but improving, are expected to remain in quarantine
for at least 30 days.

Source: Two dogs that crossed the Florida Straits with migrants on the
mend in Key Largo | Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/florida-keys/article43138683.html