The dog that drew world attention may be on the way to quarantine at the Kaua’i Humane Society. Forgea could be on Kaua’i as early as the middle of next week, said Dr. Rebecca Rhoades, a veterinarian and executive director
The dog that drew world attention may be on the way to quarantine at the Kaua’i Humane Society.
Forgea could be on Kaua’i as early as the middle of next week, said Dr. Rebecca Rhoades, a veterinarian and executive director of the Kaua’i Humane Society.
Rhoades and her staff are ready to accept the illustrious female dog and have a quarantine stall ready for her.
She said Forgea, which means “lucky” in the Mandarin Chinese language, may first be brought to Johnston Island, an atoll southwest of the Big Island. From there the dog could be airlifted on Monday aboard a scheduled Aloha Airlines flight to Honolulu.
Once in Honolulu the dog would go to a quarantine-certified clinic where veterinarians would inspect Forgea prior to flying the dog to Lihue Airport so she could spend her quarantine time at the Kaua’i Humane Society.
Rhoades said it is still undecided if the dog will come to Kaua’i, but all necessary preparations are being made. If the go-ahead is given, Forgea would probably be on Kaua’i no later than the end of next week, she said.
Spending the mandatory quarantine in the smaller, Kaua’i facility will allow staff to give it more attention, the Hawaiian Humane Society said Friday. Most pets arriving in Hawai’i are kept in Honolulu’s large quarantine facility at Halawa, where they remain in pens for up to four months.
Owners of the pet may visit, but no outdoor exercise area is available at Halawa, said Rhoades as she showed fenced-in grassy play areas within the Kaua’i Humane Society’s facility along Kaumuali’i Highway in Puhi. Pet owners may take their quarantined dogs out of their stall for exercise.
The dog was the pet of Chung Chin Po of the Insiko, an Indonesian freighter with a Taiwanese crew.
Friends of Chung in Honolulu have said they want to adopt Forgea if Chung is unable to take her to Taiwan, according to the Hawaiian Humane Society.
Three animal care experts from the humane societies had planned to leave this weekend to try to rescue Forgea.
Linda Haller, director of shelter operations for the Hawaiian Humane Society was to have led a team that was to include David Pauli, director of the regional office of the Humane Society of the United States in Billings, Mont., and Rhoades.
Rhoades and Pauli have worked together establishing humane society programs in Taiwan.
Rhoades and the others defended the cost of the earlier rescue attempts, which the local Humane Society said has been covered by donations and funds from the national society.
“This case reminds us all of compassion and respect,” Rhoades said. “It is our duty to try to rescue this dog. The Humane Society’s mission is to prevent animal suffering.”
The dog was stranded aboard an abandoned fuel tanker once believed to have sunk and was rescued Friday by the crew of a tugboat, a Coast Guard spokesman said.
Ready with a trap, the crew hired by the Coast Guard didn’t have to use it to capture Forgea. They found the dog on board and put her inside a portable kennel, said Chief Petty Officer Tyler Johnson.
“The dog was on the deck and they grabbed it,” Johnson said.
He said the 2-year-old mixed-breed white terrier that had lived with the mostly Chinese crew aboard the Indonesian-flagged Insiko 1907 since she was a puppy would be moved later Friday to the tugboat American Quest. First, crewmen were completing rigging operations aboard the tanker to get it ready for towing.
The Coast Guard had sent the tugboat to prepare to move the tanker away from Johnston Atoll out of concern that it could break open and spill its 60,000 gallons of diesel fuel, polluting waters around the island, which is U.S. territory.
Forgea had not been seen since Monday when she scampered below deck to evade fishermen from Honolulu trying to coax her off the ship.
The Insiko had been drifting about in the Pacific, hundreds of miles southwest of Honolulu and on Friday was within 100 miles of the U.S. atoll, according to the Coast Guard. An earlier $48,000 rescue attempt was abandoned after authorities said they believed the tanker had sunk with Forgea aboard.
After several days, the ship was spotted and a Coast Guard plane dropped pizza, granola bars and oranges for Forgea.
The tug crew now will attempt to recover the remains of an Insiko crewman who died in a March 13 fire that disabled the tanker and left it without communications. His body is believed to be in the flooded engine room.
The rest of the ship’s crew was rescued April 2 by the luxury cruise ship Norwegian Star, but Forgea was left behind.
The Coast Guard has been in communication with the family of the dead crewman to determine their wishes if the remains are recovered, said Lt. DesaRae Atnip, public affairs officer.
The Coast Guard is considering towing the tanker to deep water and sinking it at a depth of about three miles, Atnip said. At that depth, the diesel fuel would dissipate before reaching the surface, she said.
A final decision on what to do with the derelict tanker is expected early next week, she said.
The Coast Guard tapped into a special environmental fund to deal with the tanker when it drifted into waters within 200 miles of U.S. territory.
On the Net:
Kaua’i Humane Society: http://www.kauaihumanesociety.org
