Friendship, Animal Rescue and Puerto Rico’s Darkest Hours

Friendship, Animal Rescue and Puerto Rico's Darkest Hours
 Good evening friends, — Day 82 since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, and day 96 since Irma hit.
This is my good friend, Eli, his little rescue puppy. We met each other within the first days after Hurricane Maria hit on September 20th. Don’t be fooled by the smiles on our faces for the photo opp, we were utterly exhausted. Although, this picture was only about three months ago, it feels like another life from years back.

Eli had just retired from the board of Education back in NY after 33 years. He was coming to Puerto Rico to visit friends and family. The next thing he knows he’s living out of the Comfort Inn trapped in Puerto Rico because of Mari’s carnage.

For a month straight, the daily life of post Maria was extremely difficult. Communications had been annihilated. If you needed to speak to the airport, you had to go the airport. The problem was that if you chose to do that, you’d be using a lot of gas to get there. And once you were out of gas, there was no replacing it. Many people had no choice and went to the airport anyway, only to find out all flights were cancelled. And guess what ? — Now they had to sleep at the airport. That’s how crazy it got.Despite everything Maria threw at Eli, he kept that puppy by his side the whole time. And in return, the puppy managed to offer Eli some solace in an apocalyptic moment of time.

After 15 days of hell, Eli made it off the island and over to Florida. It’s amazing after only two weeks of knowing each other, Eli, myself and other members of our temporary crew will always been friends. The things that happened, and the things we saw can never be undone or unseen. And through that, an unbreakable bond was formed.

I will never refer to Hurricane Irma or Hurricane Maria as positive experience, that goes without say. But, great friendships were formed. And for that I’m grateful.

Have a great night friends.

A miracle named, Miracle

A miracle named, Miracle

Because leaving her was not an option.

Good evening friends,

Say hello to a miracle named, Miracle. There could be No other name for this little angel right here.

I first met Miracle on November 8th, just three weeks ago. As you can see on the left, she was in unfathomable condition. She was filthy dirty, her hair was completely matted, her nails were disfigured, and shes smelled terrible. Like terrible in a sick way. It had been raining on and off for days. Miracle was lost and disoriented.

When I stepped out of my car that morning, this poor soul just walked up to me and looked at me just like you see on the left side of the picture. Miracle was letting me that she can’t make alone anymore.

Between living on the street and living through Hurricane María, life had taken her to the breaking point. This was the end of the line right here.

I had put some food down for her, but she hardly ate anything. As I tried to get closer to her, she kept backing up. This went on for about 10 minutes until she decided to run for good. I couldn’t believe it. As desperate as she was for help, and her life being on the line, fear outplayed all of that.

I called my friends from Yes We CAN-ine. We spent two hours trying to catch her. But, she kept getting away. Eventually we lost her that night altogether.

Over the next week I had seen her a couple of times. At this point, she knew who I was and did not trust me. I couldn’t get near her.

Long story short, we put the word out about her to the animal rescue world here in Puerto Rico. On November 18th, after a 3 hour chase, two people managed to catch her. They turned her over to the Veterinary facility that we use.

Miracle had all sorts of infections and a bad tumor all over her Gentile area. Fortunately, the tumor was benign and is being treated.

For the first time in her life, Miracle is surrounded by love and care. And as such, she feels happy and is learning how to be social. Her personality is as sweet as can be.

Miracle is only 2 years old. She lived alone for two years on the street.

On November 8th, when I first encountered her, I knew the horrible life she was living was about to end, either by death, or me bridging her back to a new life. Fortunately, it was the latter. That is why I named her Miracle. She’s the little trooper that against all odds, pulled through and made it to the other side.

Looking back, as for “Yes We CAN-nine” and myself, leaving her was just not an option. It was a non starter.

One random act of kindness may not change the world, but it changes the world for the recipient of that kindness. We all have that power. On November 8th, The Lucky in Love Fund and “Yes We CAN-nine” distributed that power to a broken spirit, who’s blossoming now like flowers do in the month May.

No lives will go in vain. No pain will go unnoticed. Amen. Scott Smith for Sammy & Family.

Tribute for Murphy

Tribute for Murphy

Good evening friends.

Tonight we pay tribute to beautiful soul, Murphy, who passed away over two years ago on August 6th, 2015.

Murphy was a member of our great friend, Brian Carotenuto and Family. He was Yorkie Mix.

I had just found out about Murphy’s passing yesterday. So, I figured to reach out to Brian and do a tribute for his fallen angel. It’s never too late for a tribute. Our pets live on with us forever. And as such, the time is always right.

Murphy came to Brian from a Rescue organization in North Carolina when he was 8 years old. Murphy really needed a new lease on life. Brian offered him that lease and gave him 4 priceless years. The kind of years that are etched in stone forever.

At 12 years old, Murphy was struggling real bad with Cushings disease. Senior dogs can be prone to Cushings disease as many of us know.

The only loving move left to make was to show mercy. It’s amazing the inevitable decision we’re all faced with.

I have to remind myself that we have to hold onto the slogan, “Don’t be sad that it’s over, smile that it happened”. — Now, of course we’re going to be sad for a while. That goes without saying. But, the slogan reminds us that the journey was well worth the loss we’ll feel when they’re gone.

And, are they really gone ? – When we lose our beloved pets, don’t the memories live on with us? – Don’t those memories and experiences impact our decisions in our present life from time to time? They sure do. So, are they really gone ? Not to me they’re not.

Last year around Christmas time, Brian rescued another Yorkie Mix named, Claus Von Oberndoef. The Claus part of his name is because Brian Recused him right around Christmas time. He’s also around 8 years old. Remember, every time we rescue an animal, we create a miracle. So, that’s two miracles right there.

Sammy & Family wants to thank Brian for making the world a better place one animal at a time. We only wish that animals around the world could have the life that Brian gave Murphy, and is giving Claus.

No lives will go in vain. No pain will go unnoticed. Amen. Scott Smith for Sammy & Family.

Holidays approaching and my commitment to animals

Holidays approaching and my commitment to animals

Good evening friends.

As the holidays approach us, I’m reminded of the years I used to really struggle with them. Seasonal depression if you will. I used to find the holidays very lonely to be honest. So much takes place from one year to the next and the holidays seem to trigger a whole host of emotions.

When I decided to commit my life to animals, much of the loneliness disappeared. Animals give my life purpose. I stopped worrying about the daily minutia in life and was just thinking about them. If I knew then, what I know now, I would’ve surrounded myself with 7 dogs and rescue animals a long time ago.

But, now that I do know, I want to share my experience. To anyone going through tough times, nobody understands your struggles better than a shelter animal. If you offer an animal a bridge back to life, that animal is going to make you whole in an instant. You’ll have a best friend, a companion and an angel all wrapped up in one. How great is that ?

Have a great night friends.

The proposed lifting of the Elephant Trophy Import Ban – Sizing It Up

The proposed lifting of the elephant trophy import banPicture by; EarthXplorer Media

Good evening friends.

Tonight, I’m going to size of up the proposed lifting of the ban on importing elephant body parts and possibly lion parts too. Please pardon the naivety of my post. I never received the email from Mother Nature saying people can decide which animals live, which animals die and by what numbers. Nonetheless, I’m going to take a shot at it.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said on Thursday it would allow such importation, arguing that encouraging wealthy big-game hunters to kill the threatened species would help raise money for conservation programs. (Source – Associated Press)

Let’s break that down. So, what they’re saying is let’s allow wealthy big game hunters to go to Africa and kill elephants to raise money to help conservation programs. Mind you, one of the those programs is to help endangered elephants from becoming extinct. To me, the same is to say; Let’s hand out drugs to recovering drug addicts in the hopes of helping drug addicts overall.

Folks, over the years I’ve heard a lot of nonsensical excuses regarding hunting for sport. For example; Hunters are just killing these animals for population control, they’re doing it to feed the impoverished locals, the money raised from hunting contests will go towards kid with cancer and so on and so on. But, for the Fish and Wildlife to say we should allow the killing of elephants to raise money to protect elephants and other programs, is downright deplorable.

As an accounting major and formerly of finance for 21 years, with conviction I tell you that Hunters have zero altruistic intentions. Zero. If hunters really want to help conversation programs, just hand over the money and leave the animals alone. Problem solved.

By the way, the term “Sport Hunting” is very misleading to begin with. The word “sport” implies two consenting teams want to play. I am 100 percent confident that animals do NOT want to play this sport. So let’s call it what it is, “Taking a life that’s now ours to take” —

Just because something is legal, doesn’t mean it’s not murder. The people killing all these animals are not in compliance with Universal Laws. Is anyone paying attention to how hostile Mother Nature is getting? – How many warning signs do we need? – The hubris and arrogance of the human race is going send us into extinction.

Think about the amount of pressure the Bloodthirsty Gun Lobby is putting on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and President Trump for them to actually try sell such malarkey to the American People and the world. I mean, I would respect them more if they just said it already, “We want the Elephant and Lion ban lifted because we love to kill. Our lives are very mundane and killing innocent, defenseless animals really seems to distract us from our boring existence”

Friends, remember my post from November 5th after the Texas shooting – Highlights below;

There are 300 million guns circulating in the U.S. Yes, 300 million. 75 percent of those 300 Million Guns are owned by white men. Guess what ? — White Men only make up 32 percent of the United states’ population.

Let me break that down, 32 percent of the U.S. Population owns 75 percent of the guns. Does that really sound like “The Right to Bear Arms” is why those 32 percent of citizens have all those guns ? — Of course not. It’s about money and people’s obsession with guns and killing.

The Gun industry distracts everyone with the term “The Right to Bear Arms” while peddling guns like crack dealers peddle crack. We all know money is important in this life. Nobody’s disputing that. But, it’s supposed to be “Lives before Profits”, not the other way around.

Back to tonight’s post;

It’s the same 32 percent that owns the majority of the guns begging for hunting bans to be lifted so they can get out there and kill kill kill. It’s the same 32 percent pounding the table about “The Right to Bear Arms” to keep fear and anxiety high and gun sales pumping. And this insatiable obsession with guns and killing has severely aggravated and exacerbated  the gun epidemic in this country.

The point I’m making again is that very few guns sales have anything to do with Self Protection. Thirst for blood is the main driver of the Gun Industry. Feel free to listen to an audio I did years ago called, “The Second Amendment from the Perspective of an Animal” — You can find it on SoundCloud under Dr. Harp Seal.

And to that end, I say to all of the innocent animals and people caught in the cross-hairs of America’s biggest cancer, “Obsession with Guns and Killing”, no lives will go in vain, no pain will go unnoticed. Amen. Scott Smith for Sammy & Family.

Tribute for Tiiger the Cat

Rest In Peace Tiiger

Good evening friends.

Tonight we pay tribute to fallen angel, Tiiger. This beautiful soul was a member of my good friend, Kristi Elme and family from Estonia.

Tiiger’s life was tragically cut short two nights ago at 13 years old. Sadly, he was hit by a car and died instantaneously. There was a very decent lady who saw Tiiger’s body in the street and gave him a proper burial. Had it not been for that lady, Kristi would’ve never known what happened to Tiiger.

Kristi was telling me that Tiiger was her best friend for 13 years. He was her only furball. Tiiger was so in tuned to Kristi. He knew exactly when she was feeling down and always managed to heal her. Our animals do that for us. That is why I always say “Animals are angels walking amongst us.”

Kristi mentioned that Tiiger was not like other cats. He has his own temperament and marched to his own drum. But, at the end of the day, he always retired with Kristi each night at bedtime.

As I wrote that last sentence, I realized how much identification I had with it. It’s those little things that mean so much to us. Our animals always know where we are. Even when they’re out and about, they know exactly where we are. The love and security we offer them allows them to feel secure enough to be and about in the first place. And for that love and security, when we wake up, just like Kristi describes, they’re right there beside us. It’s a very spiritual connection we have with our animals.

There’s no doubt about it, this tragedy is a very tough pill to swallow. If any words can be offered to comfort such a tragedy, I guess I would start by saying the 13 years Kristi and Tiiger had together are frozen in time. It could never be taken from them. Those memories are forever.

Sammy & Family wants to thank Kristi for making the world a better place, one animal at a time. I only wish animals around the world could have the life that Kristi gave Tiiger.

No lives will go in vain. No pain will go unnoticed. Amen. Scott Smith for Sammy & Family.

Veterans Day – 2017

Veterans Day - 2017

In observance of Veterans Day, we salute all of those who’ve served and are serving in the military. God bless you. Special thanks to retired Armyman, Emmanuel Enrique Dextre and The United States Army for making this special uniform for Sammy.

Goodnight friends.

Halloween 2018

Dr Harp Seal red pillow

Good evening friends.

Dr. Harp Seal is making a surprise appearance to wish everyone’s happy Halloween. He told me there’s a good shot candy will be on sale tomorrow, and that dentists love Halloween more than anyone, lol.

Have a great night friends.