Our Pets - our family

Dogs, Cats, Exotic birds, Fish, Fowl and Reptiles share our lives

CHILI BEAN (In Memoriam)

A shelter rescue in Puerto Rico in 1979, Chili was a chihuahua mix with a sweet disposition. She travelled the world as the true ambassador she was. She truly felt she was a Great Dane and acted accordingly. She died in 1996 and no doubt had a hand in seeing to it that Peanut found her way to our home less than one year later.

PEANUT

SHATZIE (In Memoriam)
She was rescued from the side of a four lane highway on July 4th, 1992 where her owner had left her with a bowl of water.
She died in 1999

DAISY (In Memoriam)
This SATA appeared one morning on our back terrace and to this day we have no idea how she was able to get there without the help of a human. She was tired, hungry and loaded with ticks and fleas. She has been a great watchdog ever since. She died in 2004 at 18 years old.

ROCKY
This Terrier mix, born in 1990, was originally part of the gang out at the Factory. During the move from one location to another, Rocky joined the household and has stayed on ever since then.

CHISPO (In Memoriam)
Another SATO we inherited from the factory. He is a chihuaha mix and is quite old. We wonder how he survived the floods at the factory when the water in the area reached over 4 feet in depth. He retired atop our mountain and kept Rocky company until his death in 1998 at over 12 years of age.

BEBE

Bebe, the most Sata of Satos, was another factory dog who got distemper and cured herself. She became an indoor dog and moved to Florida with her pals Rocky and Tanya. She was born about 1989.

TANYA

Found at the factory in Puerto Rico in March 1992, she was barely 1 day old. This Sata was bottle fed and now is an indoor dog with her friends in Florida

BLONDIE

Found tied by a shoelace to her brother, this "wanna-be" golden retriever was the last of the Satos to find our front gate in mid - 2000. She has become Rocky's housemate and is the youngest of the gang.

IGGY

TOUQUY (In Memoriam)

This Toucan from Guatemala joined the family as a baby sleeping on my pillow at night. He was with us from 1984 until 1988 when he died from heart failure.

TWEEDLE DEE and TWEEDLE DUM  (In Memoriam)

A pair of Toucannettes or Turacos brought from El Salvador. Tweedle Dum had to have her foot amputated after a Hyacinth Macaw nearly snapped it in half during an altercation while all the birds were in quarantine. They died at the ripe old age of 15 - a very long life for these birds.

EGBERT and ROBIN
These two Central American Scarlet Macaws were hatched in our incubator in 1992 and hand raised. They flew free in a huge aviary until early 2000 when Robin escaped and was presumed killed by hawks. Robin has since become Baby's mate in Florida.

PACO
This Greenwing Macaw was purchased at an auction after being confiscated from a notorious drug trafficker. He was missing a few toes and had a broken wing, but his personality more than makes up for these shortcomings. Though no-one knows for certain, he is assumed to have been brought from Colombia in the early 1970s.

SIMON
Though this Military Macaw has an injured wing, he has a very demanding personality. He was rescued from a pet shop.His parents came from Panama where they almost became part of the notorious General Noriega's avian collection

BABY
The second eldest of our avian family, this Scarlet Macaw was brought from El Salvador and is assumed to have been about 10 years old when he came to us in 1985 from Nicaragua. He has a birth defect that left one eyelid slightly closed. Though this made him less desirable in the pet trade, he has endeared himself to us.

ITO and LOLITA

These two Hyacinth Macaws were rescued in Puerto Rico from separate places in 1998. At the time they were 4 and 5 years old respectively and had been hand raised. They are now a bonded pair nearing maturity. The largest of the Macaw family, they originate in the southwestern Brazil lowlands.

CRACKER

When acquired in 1998, this Caninde or Blue Throated Macaw which is quite rare, was estimated to be 15 years old. Her mate died of heart failure and never even fell off his perch. She says cracker very clearly and puts out her claw to wave hello. Of Venezuelan origin, she was hatched in Florida.

TINA and BARRY

These Buffon or Great Green Macaws come from Mexico and are estimated to have been born in the mid-seventies. Barry has since gone virtually blind but can still say Bye-bye and wave his claw in salute.

LEO

A five year old Blue and Gold came to us in 2004 when his owners could no longer keep him. He has fit in quite well.

PACA

Our first Blue and Gold travelled with us from Puerto Rico to El Salvador and back. Her original mate was Max but despite having his wings clipped, he flew away.

SINBAD       AND     SABRINA

The BOOGIE BROTHERS (I - IV)  and BOOGLET

The family of Blue and Gold Macaws still live together in a huge flight aviary. Sabrina was brought from Venezuela in 1992 on a sailboat and sold to a hairdresser in Culebra who kept her under his cottage with a wire for a perch. After a daring rescue and a hard fought cruelty case, we were awarded Sabrina who was thought to be a male. Later, we put "him" with Sinbad and six months before moving to Florida, she began turning out babies. All five were hand raised in Puerto Rico except for Booglet who was only two weeks old when arriving in Florida in December 2002.

DYNAMITE
She was rescued from an animal shelter after it was learned that she had been run over by her owner's car and had her front leg amputated before being dumped at the shelter. Though three legged, she gets around just fine.

SIMBA
This bundle of fur was first discovered by our dogs when she was only a few weeks old. She was literally snatched from the jaws of our Rottweiler and has stayed around as part of the family.

MITCHELL

Born in 1996, this short haired tuxedo was the victim of a botched declawing operation. He was rescued from the St. Croix Animal Shelter in the U.S.V.I. and had to undergo another operation to put things right.

SHIBUI

As his name implies, he is tranquility embodied. But when he found our front gate in 2000, he was about eight years old and had been declawed. It took a few cans of Sheeba Catfood (hence his name) and he was home for good. At first he was thought to be a her but now we all know better.

BAXTER

Brought in for evaluation by an Old San Juan rescue group, this long haired mix has stayed on and is slowly overcoming his rather antisocial behavior.

MONA

This manx cat came from a north florida shelter and was adopted as a 1 year old in 1998. Delivered by private aircraft and chauffeured limo to my mother who lived alone until her death  in 2003. Mona came to stay with us and is now the constant companion of Simba.