I have lived in the countryside of Homestead and Florida City since 1999. I work a full time job as a Park Ranger at Everglades National Park . I’ve rescued for years animals from the Everglades/Homestead area. I’ve volunteered with Barb St. Aubin at Thisisthedog.com , a local Homestead dog rescue org which have always supported and help with lots of my rescues . I’ve also connected a couple of y
ears ago with Kathy Cremer My Animals Rock.org to help me with some emaciated stray dogs down in the country roads and agricultural fields of Homestead and Florida City area. Since that time Kathy and I have worked together rescuing dogs. The amount of dogs that I was finding week after week abandoned, dumped, starving at these country roads and fields was alarming (and still is). Around July of last year I called Kathy Cremer and told her about 15 dogs in a pack that were all stray and had horrible mange, and were all living at an abandoned property. I fed the dogs and called Kathy and explained the deplorable condition of these animals. One dog in the pack was a female boxer and as I was leaving , the boxer was running after my SUV and was not looking like she was stopping. I told Kathy , stopped the truck, and got the boxer dog in the car. At that point, I realized that something much bigger was happening down in this area. That it was indeed an epidemic. That I had to do more to help these animals in despair. Kathy Cremer wrote a detailed email about the situation and sent it out to news reporter contacts and hundreds and hundreds of others. The news channels contacted us and did two stories which brought awareness and some much needed funds to help us bring in the rest of that pack..many other orgs stepped in to help out including Underdog Foundation (Adam Greenberg) and Tampa Humane Society but there were so (and still are) many more dogs, everywhere, everywhere, everywhere in these isolated country roads, in fields, plantations, plant nurseries, low income areas etc
I would like to clear the confusion about the 100+ Everglades/Homestead Dogs Project(s) and myself. After the summer of 2011 at the very end of August , Dahlia Canes a pitbull advocate called me and told me she wanted to come down to the Homestead area with Debi Day (No Kill Nation Director) and Amy Restucci volunteers and members of No Kill Nation were down in the Everglades, so I could show them around the area and where the packs of dogs were hanging out. That is when NKN etc got involved in helping with this huge problem. Two Facebook community pages were made one called Starving Dogs in homes..instead and 100+ abandoned dogs Everglades/Homestead area (the later one was made by NKN). The page explained the chaotic situation and how I could not do this all myself etc. The community pages was picked up by an organization called Pet Pardons, a national organization with hundreds of thousands of members and they started to send to all of their members. They wanted to set up a separate chip in for donations. So, NKN set up the chip in to go through their 501c3 organization. All individuals who contacted us with offers of help were directed to the 100+ page and to the chip in on that page. Many donations came in , I do not know how much as they had separate accountants working for them to sort it all out. Debi and Amy and other volunteers came down to Homestead and we scooped up many animals, whose vet and boarding bills were paid for by this fund for about 3-4 months. Around the end of November NKN called me and told me that donations were declining, but many of the dogs rescued in this big effort remained in boarding. The members of the organization determined that they needed to save the remaining donations in the chip in for the dogs still in boarding to make sure that there was enough money to cover the indefinite stays. In addition, they restricted the usage of the 100+ FB page to promote only the dogs that had already been rescued by their group because it was imperative that these dogs be the focus of all attention in an effort to get them out of boarding before all the funds disappeared. The effort and the donations that were raised from Sept -Nov saved many, many animals. The problem is that animals in need at the Homestead/Everglades areas did not disappear in November. There continues to be multitudes of stray, homeless and suffering dogs that need help and I can't do it alone. Since November, I ve kept on rescuing networking with Kathy and Barb St. Aubin , K9 for Love and many other local small rescue orgs and other rescue org from all over Florida . I have a small group of volunteers who live in the area have continued to help me w rescue, transport and sometimes fostering of new victims. I was also still caring for about a dozen of the dogs previously rescued when the 100+ organization was still supporting . Many of those dogs had medical treatment outstanding and one has upcoming surgery. I have approximately 20 dogs in fosters and so many other pending rescue from the fields , tree groves and hammocks, nurseries etc. All together between the previous pups and the new rescues, in addition to ordinary vetting and neutering, there have been and are upcoming, three surgeries and three HW treatments. In response to my plea for help in a Facebook Note, in this thread, we have read several comments and received several calls from people who are asking why their donations made to 100+ Abandoned Dogs Everglades Florida at the present are not going to help with my ongoing rescues in the Homestead/ Everglades area. They thought that their donations to the chip in on the 100+ page were funding my rescue efforts in the Everglades. EXPLANATION TO WHY I AM NOT RECEIVING ANY FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE GROUP OF 100+ Abandoned Dogs Everglades Florida PAGE IN FB:
The explanation is that the group of volunteers called the 100+ Abandoned Dogs of Everglades Florida has evolved into a different organization with a new group of administrators. NKN is no longer involved. Amy Restucci who is now the main administrator of the pagestated to me that between the new rescuing they are doing and the two dogs they have in boarding from the original organization, that they are not able to offer any financial support. My person and the 100+ group will still have cordial relations, but it is important that people realize that we are separate groups now and that I am not getting financial support from this group's chip in. At the present time and until I can put together my own organization for my rescued dogs , those of you that would like to continue to help me with my rescues of Homestead dogs I am collecting donations through the 501c3 org of www.myanimalsrock.org of Kathy Cremer and specify is for the Homestead dogs. . If you want to donate directly to the vet clinics please contact me for their info.I am posting the dogs also at the My Animals Rock FB page and on my personal page. If you would like to help as a foster home for a rescue dog or volunteering. If you want to contact me direct my contact number is 305-484-1349 and my new email is [email protected] and my old email [email protected] or send me a private message in my FB page. Thank you for caring! Mirta Maltes
Info About My Animal Rock Org by Kathy Cremer
My Animals Rock is a 501(c)(3) non-profit rescue organization whose mission it is to find loving, compatible homes for abandoned and abused animals and to provide medical care for those who are sick. My Animals Rock is not a specific place......we do not have a shelter--- we are a small network of dedicated and compassionate people who volunteer our time and homes to save the lives of animals who are injured, abandoned, surrendered or lost. A paramount goal of My Animals Rock, is to encourage the spaying and neutering of pets and to raise awareness of the plight of homeless animals in our community. Over the past several years our organization has become aware of the tragic situation that abounds in the Florida Everglades and neighboring communities of Homestead and Redlands. Hundreds and hundreds of animals are being discarded by humans down in this southern farmland. This area is hundreds of miles of undeveloped land where the animals are left to wander, scavenging for food and water. They are exposed to deadly predatory alligators and snakes and they are subjected to parasites and disease. They are not sterilized and continuously breed resulting in hundreds of puppies roaming the streets with no chance of survival. They all eventually face death. These deaths are not humane euthanasia but slow and painful deaths of starvation and disease. The animals are eaten alive by ticks and fleas and mites. They suffer from horrific mange in which their hair is eliminated and their skin is attacked by bacterial infections which cause extreme pain. They suffer from unattended injuries from animal attacks and automobile injuries in which they are forced to live dragging their injured and painful limbs behind them. It is a horrific plight. These once were people's pets. They are loving and want to be released from this hell. They run after your car begging for you to take them with you. Unfortunately, the County has no shelter or manpower in this area to assist with this epidemic. It is left to the people, that care, who live there. They see it everyday. They try to do their part, but for lack of physical space and funds, these individuals can't be responsible for the hundreds and hundreds of animals suffering there. Our organization has been supporting the effort to rescue as many dogs as possible from this area as well as promote the mandate for low cost/free spay/neuter clinics. Mirta Maltes is our woman in the field down in this area. She is an Everglades Park Ranger by day and an animal savior by night( and all hours that she isn't working). She witnesses this situation every single day of her life and does the work of ten people in the field, trapping, feeding, reporting and fostering these animals. We have been supporting her efforts with surgeries, vetting, spay neutering and finding fosters and adoptive homes for the animals she rescues. IT IS NOT ENOUGH! We can't do it ourselves. There are too many. We need monetary support and offers of foster, boarding and homes for these animals. Spread the word please. We need everyone on board. We have teamed up in this effort and your donations are tax deductible as they are being made to an established charitable organization. To make a donation go to our website www.myanimalsrock.org. There is a donation page to make donations by credit card through paypal. We also have a PO Box for checks. My Animals Rock, PO Box 630729, Miami Fl 33163. Most of the veterinarians that we work with will also accept direct contributions toward the animals treatment. Please like this page and send to everyone you know. That is the only way we will grow. We invite all of our adopters to write in with their Happy Tails of adoption . Please send pictures of your new family members. Kathy
My Animals Rock, Inc., 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation
PO BOX 630729 MIAMI,FL 33163
305 401 4693
www.myanimalsrock.org
[email protected]
http://www.petfinder.com/pet-search?shelterid=FL879
If you can help:
THESE DOGS NEED US. WE KNOW HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO FIND FOSTERS OR RESCUES WITH ROOM BUT WE ARE PLEADING NOW FOR MORE FUNDS, FOSTERS AND RESCUES TO OFFER HELP. I ALSO HAVE A PERSONAL PLEA FOR HELP. I CAN'T DO THIS ALONE. ALTHOUGH I HAVE HAD VERY WONDERFUL VOLUNTEERS TO HELP ME WITH REMOVING DOGS FROM THE STREET, ONCE THEY ARE REMOVED AND BROUGHT TO A VET, THERE ARE SO MANY TASKS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO GET FROM RESCUE DOG TO ADOPTED DOG.:)
TRANSPORT
SHOW DOGS FOR ADOPTIONS
ANSWER PHONE CALLS
SEND APPLICATIONS
DO HOME VISITS
TRAP THE MORE DIFFICULT DOGS
PHOTOGRAPH THE DOGS
POST THE DOGS ON INTERNET
HELP WITH FUNDRAISING. I HAVE A FULL TIME JOB AND AM JUST NOT ABLE TO PERFORM ALL OF THESE TASKS. I DESPERATELY NEED EXPERIENCED HELP
IN ADDITION TO HELP, WE NEED DONATIONS TO KEEP THESE DOGS SAFE AND TO CONTINUE TO VET THEM. IF YOU CAN HELP ME CALL 305 484 1349
IF YOU CAN DONATE PLEASE GO TO MY FRIEND AND RESCUE PARTNER KATHY CREMER 501C3 ORG WWW.MYANIMALSROCK.ORG AND SPECIFY DONATION IS FOR THE HOMESTEAD DOGS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!! PLEASE KEEP THE CHAIN OF LOVE GOING
NEWS ARTICLES AND BLOG ARTICLES
S. Fla. Rescue Saving Dogs Dumped In The Everglades « CBS Miami
Oct 18, 2011 ... I would also like to thank Mirta Maltes who goes there twice a day to ... And dropping a dog off in the Everglades because you don't want it or ...
http://miami.cbslocal.com/search/?q=mirta+maltes%2C+dogs%2C+everglades%2C+homestead
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/10/18/s-fla-rescue-saving-dogs-dumped-in-the-everglades/
http://www.local10.com/news/Rescue-Group-Saves-Dogs-Abandoned-In-The-Everglades/-/1717324/3076726/-/to672g/-/index.html
Oct 12, 2011 ... All the women have full-time jobs, but they say saving these dogs has become their passion. Mirta Maltes, a ranger at the the park, formed the ...
www.local10.com/furryfriends/28824355/detail.html
Oct 18, 2011 ... It's a heart wrenching problem, dogs of all shapes and sizes are being ... I would also like to thank Mirta Maltes who goes there twice a day to ...
miami.cbslocal.com/2011/10/18/s-fla-rescue-saving-dogs-dumped-in-the-everglades/
South Dade faces new influx of abandoned dogs - Homestead ...
Oct 30, 2011 ... Starving and with bugs in their fur, six dogs scarf down plates of food ... while neighborhood resident Mirta Maltes drives around and feeds as ...
www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/07/2479751/south-dade-faces-new-influx-of.html
Oct 31, 2011 ... Starving and with bugs in their fur, 6 dogs headband down plates of food ... while area proprietor Mirta Maltes drives around and feeds as many ...
sofloscene.com/2011/10/
Dec 19, 2011 ... Mirta Maltes has been begging for a facility so I asked if maybe they could give a facility to house these dogs, with a responsible rescue ...
blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2011/12/with_hundreds_of_dogs_abandone.php
Lone hound dog wandering around Florida Everglades - National ...
Feb 3, 2012 ... Dogs are being dumped in a national park, the Florida Everglades ... Please visit: http://facebook.com/mirta.maltes to find out more about Chris. www.examiner.com/american-pit-bull-in-national/lone-hound-dog-wandering-around-florida-everglades
JAN 2014 CHANNEL 10 NEWS
http://m.local10.com/news/abandoned-dog-found-rescued-in-everglades/-/16717752/23717788/-/sq6w3ez/-/index.html
http://m.local10.com/news/homestead-abandoned-dogs/-/16717752/23741614/-/mdlq55z/-/index.html
