For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Erica Erickson, and I am the founder and president of Playa Paws Animal Rescue and Siamese Rescue of Puerto Rico.

We are a registered Puerto Rico-based Non-Profit organization, and we also have 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity status with the IRS.

We rescue pets who are unwanted, abandoned, and from hoarding, neglect, and cruelty cases. We provide vet care, high-quality food, enrichment, and a safe, loving environment for kitties and puppies while we search for loving forever homes. We also fly all of our rescue animals to loving homes in the States because of the poor living conditions for animals and the extreme pet overpopulation in Puerto Rico.

We fill a gap in service and care for animals who otherwise have no available resources. Despite a local law requiring animal services, these resources do not exist, resulting in severe illness, neglect, and even death for the multitudes of helpless animals who are in need of our intervention.

Our adoption fees include vaccines, deworming, flea treatment, transport to the airport, airfare, and health records. The cost of adoption does not come close to covering our expenses to rescue, care for, and transport the 80+ animals in our care at any given time. We do everything we can to save as many animals as we can, with very few resources and no paid staff. Many of the funds required for care and upkeep of these animals comes out of my own pocket - and still, I love every minute of this work and wouldn’t want it any other way.

However, at the behest of a harassing neighbor, who was simply trying to run me out of town with baseless and false accusations because she didn’t like that I was an outsider, on September 1st, 2023, 15 armed Puerto Rican police officers executed a 9-page warrant in Spanish that was not signed by a judge and then proceeded to enter my property in the middle of the night and dismantled my rescue, taking the cats, their crates, carriers, medications, and all the food I had for them. I am not sure why and I don’t know if I will ever find out.

I tried everything I could to fight this illegal search and seizure, but instead, my fight for my rights angered the prosecutor who decided to charge me with 120 criminal counts of animal neglect, including 58 felonies, despite not having any evidence to substantiate his claims. I was told that if I quietly went away that none of this would happen – but I could NOT just abandon these cats, who are not being cared for – at least 20 of whom have actually died after being taken from our rescue and not being given proper care.

I have a court hearing on July 2nd where the prosecution is trying to reverse my bail (which was absurdly high – as an indirect threat) and place me in jail until the trial – which has not been scheduled yet. For that reason, I am asking you for your help. By signing this petition, you are encouraging the Puerto Rican government to drop all charges against me as they lack merit, proof and are inherently biased, stemming from a corrupt and unlawful judicial system.

I have so many more lives to save and I cannot do this without your help. Please sign, share, and engage, in anything that you are comfortable with as we battle this nightmare together.

You can learn more about my story on my YouTube and TikTok pages and I am happy to answer any questions in the time I have left before I have to return to Puerto Rico.

Thank you for reading and for sharing – your support means the world to me and the countless animals in need.