Martin Pangelinan, the dog control program manager, said the 40 kennels at the As Perdido shelter have been repaired by the Saipan Mayor’s Office.
The Saipan Mayor’s Office-Dog Control Program animal shelter is located in As Perdido.
THE Saipan Mayor’s Office-Dog Control Program shelter has 40 individual kennels that can accommodate approximately 60 dogs, program manager Martin Pangelinan said on Tuesday, March 5.
In January, social media posts showed that the doors to many kennels at the facility were broken due to rust.
Later that same month, the mayor’s office said it would hire a contractor to repair the doors.
The repairs began on Jan. 20, according to Lupe Attao, deputy executive director of the Saipan Humane Society, which partners with the Saipan Mayor’s Office in providing care for the shelter animals.
Pangelinan is grateful to the Saipan Mayor’s Office for the repairs.
“Our kennel doors were falling off the hinges,” he said. “That was a big challenge for us that limited us from [taking in strays] from the community. [Chief of Staff Priscilia Iaokopo and Mayor RB Camacho] took action and fixed our kennel areas.”
He said the facility has three sections, one each for dogs ready for adoption, one for dogs surrendered by their owners, and the third for dogs picked up by the animal control program staff.
A single kennel has room for one adult dog. Two to three puppies can be placed in a single kennel, if they are small enough, Pangelinan said.
He said the dog control program staff begin their day with a morning briefing, followed by a washdown and disinfection of the kennels, and the feeding of the animals.
Animals up for adoption get special treatment, he said. “Every now and then staff take them out to the play area to socialize,” Pangelinan added.
He said pets picked up by the dog control program can be reclaimed by their owner, who must pay a fee.
The one-year license fee is $10, with a $16 first impoundment fee, and a $20 penalty fee. There is an additional boarding fee of $5 per day, which covers the kennel cleaning and animal feeding costs.
A full list of fees is available at https://saipanmayor.cnmi.gov/programs/dog-control/.
Pangelinan said to avoid fines, owners should confine their dogs within their property.
He said dogs can also be impounded if they are aggressive.
“We’ve been getting a lot of dog bite incidents and it’s usually our children who are getting bit going to or coming back from school,” he added.
“All we ask is that [the public] keep the dogs confined,” Pangelinan said. “Register the dogs with the dog control program and when your dog is out at any public places such as beaches or parks…please just have them on a leash.”
Pangelinan said registration can also make finding a lost pet easier.
“That’s why we kind of encourage everyone to register their dogs so if your dog is missing and we do impound your dog, it has a tag. We can run your tag number, it will give us the owner information, and we give them a call. That’s how it works,” he added.
