GAIN announces new drop-offs schedule
F
ollowing a request by
the Guam Department
of Agriculture, GAIN
will limit non-emergency
public drop-offs of animals
on Tuesdays. The new policy
began Aug. 20 and lasting
through September.
Unless an emergency,
animals coming from the
general public will be asked
to be held for another 24-48
hours before being turned
in to GAIN. The temporary
measure is an effort to provide
more kennels for Mayors and Animal
Control, to respond to an increase in animal
control calls at the start of the school year.
“We’re receiving more complaints about
stray dogs making it difficult for school
children to walk to, or stand at, their
appropriate bus stops,” said Chelsa Muna-
Brecht, director of the Guam
Department of Agriculture.
“The stray animal problem is
a crisis, and it’s getting worse,”
she added.
“By collaborating with
GAIN, we’re managing the
inflow of animals on Tuesdays
in order to ensure the worst
problem cases are addressed,”
Muna-Brecht said. “But we
still struggle with limited
resources, which prevents us
from properly responding to
calls from the public. We need
to properly support a long-term solution,”
she added.
The Yigo animal shelter is a government
of Guam facility, and the island’s only
animal shelter. Its operations are long-term
subcontracted to GAIN, a non-profit animal
welfare organization.
“The Yigo shelter is 50 years old, but
Guam’s dog population has increased six-
fold since it was built. The shelter was never
designed to handle an island with this many
stray animals,” said Alison Hadley, Executive
Director of GAIN.
“Foster families and adopters are saving
lives, but they are overtaxed. Limiting
intakes is a short-term, band-aid solution.
Long-term, the animal shelter must expand
to meet community needs, and we need an
island-wide government spay and neuter
program,” added Hadley.
While non-emergency public drop-offs
will not be accepted on Tuesdays, the
shelter will remain open for volunteers and
adopters. Normal operations will continue
on all other days. GAIN is open 365 days a
year, and is located next to the Yigo gym.
For questions, please contact GAIN at (671)
653-4246 or Animal Control at (671) 300-
7964/5/6/7.
Tanka poetry collection illustrates life with cats
A
book of
American-style
tanka poetry
by University of Guam
professor Yukiko Inoue-
Smith was published
on June 3, adding to her
growing collection of
published works. “Life
with Goblin and PJ: A
Collection of Tanka
Poetry” was published
by JustFiction Edition.
Inoue-Smith,
a professor of
educational
psychology and
research, has worked
extensively with tanka,
which translates into
“short song” and is one
of the oldest styles of Japanese
poetry. With a structure similar
to haiku, tanka poems written
in Japanese are verses of 31
syllables in one straight line. But
in English and other languages,
they are often written using five
lines.
The poetry in “Life with
Goblin and PJ” is inspired by the
author’s two cats.
“I have come to realize the
huge benefits of having pets,”
Inoue-Smith writes in the
book. “For most of my
adult life, I concentrated
on my studies and then
on my work … Without
knowing it, I needed cats
very much.”
Other published
tanka collections by
Inoue-Smith include
“Winter Woods: My
Journey into Tanka,”
“The Inescapable
Seasons of Life,” “Do
Cats Dream?” and “A
Shawl of Mist.” She
has also authored and
compiled books on
educational topics,
including “A Jungle
Named Academia:
Approaches to Self-Development
and Growth” and “Faculty Roles
and Changing Expectations
in the New Age.” Her works
are available for purchase via
Amazon and JustFiction.
Excerpt from “Life with Goblin and PJ”:
Everything today
Dashed my hopes–
It is late and
Hearing my complaints
My cats have no response
September 2019 I Furry Times I 7