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Just in case anyone isn't familiar with Save a SATO

More cities importing pound puppies
By Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY

Marianna Massa wanted to help solve the problem of stray dogs in her "own little way." So she adopted "Peluso," a three-legged mutt.

In the past 7 years, Puerto Rico alone has sent 14,000 strays to the U.S. for adoption.

She picked him out of a crowd at a Salem, Mass., shelter. But Peluso was no neighborhood stray. The terrier mix had been shipped 1,700 miles from Puerto Rico because Salem doesn't have enough strays to satisfy demand.

Peluso is part of a trend: Animal shelters in the USA are casting a wide net — from Puerto Rico to as far as Taiwan — to fill kennels.

Critics say many shelters have solved the stray problem in their own area — but rather than shut down, they become de facto pet stores. Some charge more than $200 per adoption for imported dogs.

"Nobody's been watching this because nobody would have imagined that a hare-brained idea like this could ever get going," says Patti Strand, president of the National Animal Interest Alliance, a group that represents breeders, pet shop owners and others interested in animal welfare. "That's why there are no laws on the books."

In the last seven years, one organization in Puerto Rico has shipped more than 14,000 strays to the states for adoption. Shipments from other countries also appear to be increasing. Most imports are small to medium-size dogs popular among adopters.

Advocates of imports say their mission is to save street dogs, no matter where they are found, and to assist U.S. citizens who want to help homeless dogs.

More demand for strays

"We're sending more to the states because there's more demand for them," says Chantal Robles, founder and president of the Save a Sato Foundation, based in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. "As soon as they get there, they get adopted." Sato (SAW-toe) is the term used in Puerto Rico for a mixed-breed dog.

The drive to have dogs spayed and neutered in the USA has cut down on unwanted litters. And adoption campaigns have helped empty dog pounds.

"It's a success story," says Gary Patronek, director of the Tufts University Center for Animals and Public Policy.

But people who want to adopt dogs increasingly find aged dogs or undesirable breeds like pit bulls at shelters, Patronek says.

That's where imports like Peluso come in.

He lost a leg after being run over by a car in Puerto Rico. Massa, 29, found him at Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem — one of the pioneers in importing satos.

Perpetuating a problem?

Last year, the shelter received 390 strays from Puerto Rico, says Betty Bilton, the assistant director. Bilton says the shelter's mission is to find homes for strays. Whether the dog is from downtown Salem or an ocean away is not important.

Strand says it's OK for shelters to take in strays from nearby locales if they encourage spaying and neutering programs from donor areas. But she believes taking dogs from overseas, where population-control programs are limited, perpetuates a problem.

"Bringing more dogs in from other countries and territories increases the total number of dogs needing homes in the United States, and increases disproportionately the number of ones with temperament and health problems — the poorest risks for permanent placement," Strand says.

Not-for-profit shelters may be chartered to insure animal welfare, but they are relatively unregulated, Patronek says. Pet shops, on the other hand, generally operate under more stringent state and local regulations.

Bilton makes no bones about it: Shelters are on a tack to compete against pet stores for the business of dog lovers. Adoption of a sato at Bilton's shelter costs $125, which includes spaying or neutering.

"We don't feel bad if we can put a pet store out of business," she says. "Pet stores get their puppies from puppy mills where conditions are horrendous. I don't feel guilty at all about putting puppy mills out of business either."

Dogs coming into the USA need certificates of good health and proof of rabies shots. They are not required to be quarantined.

Patronek warns that the prospect of importing disease is a serious concern.

"What makes it so scary is that you just don't know what might emerge if you aren't at least looking for it," he says.

So far, the importation of disease has not been a problem, even though dogs are arriving from places as diverse as Mexico, Bahamas and Taiwan, says Martha Armstrong, vice president for companion animals at the Humane Society of the United States. "Many of the people who are exporting are taking care of what they're sending out," she says.

Strand, who raises purebred Dalmatians, says imports might easily be diseased or flea-ridden. They may have social problems; they might shy away from humans, or be biters.

Foster care helps adjustment

Bilton counters that all the dogs she gets from Puerto Rico are tested for disease, and those that are wild spend a month in "foster care" to allow them to adjust to people.

"We have not seen one virus or disease in Puerto Rico that hasn't been here. These dogs are heartier and healthier than those that come from the southern U.S."

Bilton also disputes claims that the dogs are poorly socialized. "I have a such a good relationship with the rescue people in Puerto Rico," she said. "I know the dog weeks before it gets here. We wouldn't give a dog to a family and say I hope it doesn't kill your kid."

While the debate over importing dogs continues, Massa is sold on the idea. She liked Peluso so much that she stopped by the shelter recently to pick out another sato.

"I read a lot about how hard their lives are in Puerto Rico," said Massa, who works at a retirement home. "It just affected me so much. I had to do something. If I had a farm, I'd have more."