Cubans Searching for a Better Future Leave Their Pets Behind

 A cat lies on a refrigerator at the Adoptions for Love animal shelter in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP)
A cat lies on a refrigerator at the Adoptions for Love animal shelter in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP)
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Cubans Searching for a Better Future Leave Their Pets Behind

 A cat lies on a refrigerator at the Adoptions for Love animal shelter in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP)
A cat lies on a refrigerator at the Adoptions for Love animal shelter in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP)

Balto, Pepa and Mami were among the lucky ones.

After being abandoned by their owners who left Cuba — or simply couldn’t care for them anymore — the dogs were rescued by animal rights activists on the island, who fed them, sterilized them and found them a new home.

Many others didn't have such luck, and were left wandering the streets.

While there are no official figures or estimates of how many pets have been left behind by their owners who leave the island, the number of abandoned cats and dogs has spiked in the last two years as Cubans migrate in record numbers, animal activists say.

"We’d receive a phone call from someone asking us to care for their pets, because they’re suddenly migrating and don’t know what to do with them," said Elizabeth Meade, founder of Adoptions for Love, an animal shelter in Havana.

Although the shelter found a home for some 300 rescued pets in the past year, many of those were returned — or simply went missing — after their new owners also decided to migrate. For these animals, said Meade, "it’s not always a happy ending."

Between October 2021 and September 2024, US authorities reported more than 600,000 encounters with Cubans — a significant number for an island of roughly 10 million people. That is in addition to the thousands who choose to migrate to Spain or other Latin American countries.

For many Cubans, taking their pets with them is not an option.

Transporting an animal from Havana to Miami through a specialized agency can cost up to $1,200 — including medical examinations and the flight — and, since September, pet owners have to pay an additional $1,300 to comply with a legal obligation of a quarantine.

For those who remain in Cuba, daily life is not easy: the country’s gross domestic product fell by 2% in 2023, resulting in rampant inflation and food and fuel shortages.

Caring for a pet on the island can be prohibitive for most Cubans. While the average monthly salary in the state sector — the largest employer — is about $21, a 20-kilo bag of imported dog food can cost up to $70 and a visit to the vet costs the equivalent of $10.

The increase in the number of abandoned pets in Cuba has been largely countered by animal activism, a phenomenon that began to take shape in 2018 after the Internet was massively adopted and social media helped coordinate actions.

In 2021, animal rights activists scored a win when the government passed a long-awaited animal welfare law, which seeks to prevent cruelty and raise awareness about the need to protect animals. The law also penalizes animal cruelty, including dogfights, but activists say it is not enough.

"Abandonment is the worst form of animal abuse," said Leandro Valdés, a dog trainer and proud owner of Koffee, a rescued dog that has gone viral as he rides around Havana in the back of Valdés’ motorcycle, wearing goggles and a seatbelt.

"The increase in migration has resulted in more pets being abandoned," says Valdés, noting the "loss of values" that resulted from Cuba's deepening economic crisis.



'Paradise is Still Paradise' - Floridians vow to Rebuild after Two Hurricanes

An aerial view shows helicopters sitting on a field, after Hurricane Milton's landfall, in Siesta Key, Florida, US, October 10, 2024. REUTERS/Marco Bello
An aerial view shows helicopters sitting on a field, after Hurricane Milton's landfall, in Siesta Key, Florida, US, October 10, 2024. REUTERS/Marco Bello
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'Paradise is Still Paradise' - Floridians vow to Rebuild after Two Hurricanes

An aerial view shows helicopters sitting on a field, after Hurricane Milton's landfall, in Siesta Key, Florida, US, October 10, 2024. REUTERS/Marco Bello
An aerial view shows helicopters sitting on a field, after Hurricane Milton's landfall, in Siesta Key, Florida, US, October 10, 2024. REUTERS/Marco Bello

Chris Fiore was supposed to be accepting delivery of new household appliances and furniture, replacing items that were swamped by Hurricane Helene just a few weeks ago.

Instead, the resident of Siesta Key, the Florida barrier island town where Hurricane Milton made landfall this week, was using a broom to push muck and seawater out of her ground-floor condo, a dream home she purchased just four years ago.

"There is no chance I'm pulling up stakes," Fiore said on Friday, pointing out the waterline where ocean water earlier this week was two feet (60 cm) up a wall. "I'm doubling down, thinking about hurricane windows and doors, figuring out how to stop this water from coming in."

This sentiment was echoed by several residents of Siesta Key who spoke with Reuters on Friday. Residents were outnumbered by clean-up workers and people handing out cards advertising roofing and other construction services following two major hurricanes in two weeks.

All were feeling down from the double whammy of Helene and Milton. But no one seemed defeated, despite the threats of more and stronger hurricanes coming their way in the future.

"Paradise is still paradise, despite this mess," said Pat Hurst, who along with her husband Bill has lived on Siesta Key since 2011 and has been visiting for well over two decades.

"That said, cleaning up from one hurricane while trying to prepare for another was really stressful."

While those living outside hurricane-prone zones may wonder why their residents choose to stay, it is easy to see Siesta Key's appeal, even after a hurricane. The place is a Jimmy Buffet song come to life. The mix of low-slung homes and three-story condos are painted in pleasant pastels, and downtown is lined with appealing restaurants and bars.

After Milton, fine white beach sand covered roads several blocks inland. Homes were turned inside out, with every imaginable household possession ruined by Helene heaped along roads. Coconuts were blown from trees and thrown asunder.

Boats normally docked in canals were tossed on land. Dumpsters already full from the Helene cleanup were being topped by Milton's debris.

Milton, the fifth-most-intense Atlantic hurricane on record, intensified quickly from a Category 1 storm to the maximum Category 5 at sea in less than 24 hours, the latest example of a worrying trend that has seen storms growing more powerful, more quickly, due to climate change.

Milton made landfall as a Category 3. At least 16 deaths were attributed to Milton, CBS News cited the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as saying.

Asked by reporters about possible discussion of not letting people rebuild, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on Friday that "the reality is people work their whole lives to be able to live in environments that are really, really nice, and they have a right to make those decisions with their property as they see fit.

"It is not the role of government to forbid them or to force them to dispose or utilize their property in a way that they do not think is best for them," DeSantis said.

Sherry Tom, 49, convinced her husband and three daughters to leave Pittsburgh's cold winters and move to Siesta Key in 2021.

"This place is my whole heart," she said. "But I will admit - I'm worried about living in fear that this will happen again. But if we can, we're staying."

Tom said she thinks that they will have to knock down what remains of their home and build from scratch. She wasn't certain how they will get that done, but was resolute about staying.

Marko Radosavljevic, 54, owns one of the original homes built by Siesta Key's first developer, Frank Archibald. It's a coral green beauty built with pecky cypress wood, known for its water resistance. Water and wind have nonetheless done damage in the past two weeks.

As he worked to clean out debris from the house he's owned since 2017, Radosavljevic said that he was not even considering leaving behind a place "with a special island vibe."

"I refuse to be pushed out," Radosavljevic said, referring to both storms and drives to put up hotels in place of the older homes like his.