AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye San Pedro Belize Dog Eradication Controversy

Thanks to Mayor Danny.....wonder if any of the Town Board has read this board in the last 48 hours...I sent the Town Board an e-mail asking them what they would do if the international media got a hold of this.

Is anyone here willing to let a kindly stranger in on the issue between the two main animal groups there and why the animal hospital/clinic is for sale? This clinic building would make a fairly good shelter base and along with SAGA could make for a great combination of operations for animal control. But we would have to find a vet willing to work there and if issues run too deep, they have likely permeated the vet community.

In past posts I have asked about running a non-profit business there and from the sounds of some of the above posts, Animal Control would be about as non-profit as it comes. But nonetheless with extreme need.

I'm not a resident there (yet) but please don't let this keep you from spending your time in San Pedro. There are so many more reasons to keep going than to spend your vacation dollars somewhere else. Think about the folks who work in restaurants and hotels. They need their jobs and this should not effect them negatively. Be outraged, be outspoken, but don't give up on them.

One of the problems is that about 90% of the stray dogs were and are dogs that have owners. Belize has laws regarding the care and ownership of dogs, complete with fines. You cant get them to inforce the laws, which may be a bigger problem than spay and neuter. We are much smaller on Caye Caulker, we know all our strays and who owned them. The folks that put them out on the street only to bring another cute puppy home. We actually have health records of street dogs when they were young brought and signed in by their owners before they grew up and ate too much and were not cute enough and replaced by a new puppy. Its crazy as their is no issue to have laws wriiten and passed in Belize, its been done..it just wont be enforced. I think I could tonite have over 50 people on this small island arrested with proof of ownership that we have on file.but the police wont get involved. We have been lucky here, SAGA has alot more to deal with than us. So far our Village Council has come to us when the Department of Health starts talking eradication and we bring in strays and euthanize those that have no future, its sad.but strychnine is horrific, also dangerous to people. A small child here years ago got ahold of a strycnine sausage and had to be rushed to the city and almost died.

Belize is not alone on enforcement issues. I live in a city of over 1/2 million people and our animal laws are poorly enforced as well. I'm not sure that arrest is the answer but we have seen wonderful things happen when irresponsible owners are held accountable by penalties of community service cleaning kennels, fines, or both. Some are even sentenced to animal care training classes. Jail is an option here but only in extreme or repeat offender cases. When our laws are enforced by judges and police, we see significant reduction in strays and animal borne disease.

We must enforce leash laws as a start. A cash fine is the most painful sentence here as no one is going to jail. We have many new Traffic wardens and they could also give tickets to dog owners. They notice a dog that is loose and enquire after the owner and write them a citation. If no one wants to claim to be owner the Warden can make a note of the description of the dog and location so Saga can pick it up, even text the report on the cell phone. As an aside the Wardens could also ticket litterers.
I am glad Danny has agreed to not poison so long as that does not mean that we wimp out and do nothing as before. The loose dogs must be eradicated so lets all work together to make it as humane as possible. Come to my house at 2am and I'll give you all the dogs you want.
I hope our future guests realize that we know we have problems and are not ashamed to admit it nor will we sweep them under the rug. It should be obvious as well that we are all working diligently to make San Pedro a better place to visit and a better place to live.

What if San Pedro used their already trained Police and added additional training for animal control (sometimes free from Humane Society and other animal groups), SAGA solicited donations to purchase control equipment-- catch poles are about $75 each and I can see the need for about 3-5 to start, Leather gloves-$20 per pair and they may already have those, a snake pole just for good measure; then the city implemented and ENFORCED licensing- wouldn't that correct a large part of the issues?
That seems like a small amount of cash outlay with a large amount of sweat equity and huge improvement in clean up. I personally would be willing to chip in on a program with any combination of those components.

I am not talking about arrest and jail. more so of being brought in and a citation given..sorry, arrest may have been to harsh of a word...

I have been reading this thread with interest since the announcement was made on Tuesday of the Major's decision concerning the island's dog problems. I'm horrified to think, as many of you are, that there is no other way to handle this problem, but I do appreciate that there is a forum for exchanging points of view here.
With respect to all of you, I would like to say that my personal view echos Collyk's. All living creatures are of value to me, and I hope for a more humane way of handling the stray dog situation will soon be considered both for the animals and for the people their empty lives have affected.
I am a long time visitor to the island currently hoping to call AC my home soon. Yes, I've had serious second thoughts about my choice of a new hometown, and honestly I think this incident in San Pedro has given me additional food for thought. Hoping to hear some more thoughtful news on the part of San Pedro officials soon!

I know it seems like I'm trying to be an ass but I assure you I'm not. The problem I have is that you have no real understanding of the reality of the police force, etc. As well as an inability to grasp the difference between a mid sized city in the US and an island off the coast of what is basically a Third World Country.I guess I'm not condemning the ideas as much as their real world impracticability...