Mariana Turner, left, and Adam Parascandola are on island to train the animal welfare community in collaboration with the Saipan Humane Society.
THE Saipan Humane Society has partnered with the Humane World for Animals organization as well as Guam Territorial Veterinarian Mariana Turner to provide training opportunities to animal welfare stakeholders and the community on Saipan.
Variety was invited by SHS to speak with Adam Parascandola, vice president of the animal rescue team for Humane World for Animals.
He will host two workshops, one on March 12 and the other on March 13, at Koblerville Community Center.
Registration for the March 13 workshop is still ongoing at https://tinyurl.com/humanesocietyworkshop
The first workshop will focus on investigating animal cruelty and is catered to the Mayor’s Dog Control Program staff, the Attorney General’s Office, and law enforcement.
“We will talk about the link between animal cruelty and human violence, how it’s connected with family violence and other forms of criminal activity,” Parascandola said. “We get people to understand that … malicious abuse of animal [incidents] are not isolated just to animals. Those individuals have been shown to be more likely to be involved with domestic violence or violent criminal activity. The idea is to make sure they understand the law and because it’s not the same thing as other crimes they investigate — it’s more similar to investigating child abuse or child neglect. It’s about making sure they understand how to investigate that and what they’re looking for and what their authority is.”
The second day of training will be dedicated to safe animal handling techniques for rescue animals and shelter care; best practices for trapping, transporting, and working with animals; livestock handling and field response strategies; and ways to improve safety for animals and handlers.
Turner, for her part, is providing training for SHS and dog control program staff to become euthanasia technicians. Staff from the Department of Lands and Natural Resources’ animal welfare program will be trained to provide assistance, though they will not become technicians, Turner said.
She said SHS staff and their dog control program counterparts will initially receive the in-class portion of training and, at a later time, be trained to safely handle and administer animal euthanasia drugs.
Saipan is home to numerous stray animals and pets but has no permanent veterinarian who could administer euthanasia to animals that need it.
Turner said SHS and the dog control program could fill that need. She added that if the trained SHS staff pass their certification test in May, their facility in Garapan can apply for a license with the Drug Enforcement Administration in order to handle and store euthanasia drugs without a veterinarian.
SHS, for its part, is grateful to Humane World for Animals, Saipan Vegas/Saipan Country Club, AK Auto, and the Division of Youth Services for their support.
