Volunteer Vets and Hopkins Humane Society Take on Belize City – Weekend Clinic Kick-Off at St. Catherine’s Academy

Yesterday I jumped aboard the 7:30am San Pedro-Belize Express water taxi to Belize City to help with the first of a three day veterinary clinic.  Goal?  To spay and neuter as many animals as possible – in a city where stray dogs and cats are routinely “eradicated”.  I’ll get to that in a bit…

After a full Thursday of rain on Ambergris Caye, the weather looked promising as we pulled into Belize City.  The lobster fishermen were unloading at the fishing co-op.

Better weather means more people bringing out their animals.  And MAN!  DID THE ANIMALS COME OUT!  By the time I left to catch the 4pm boat back to San Pedro, they had tagged Lola, #106, to be spayed.

Isn’t she gorgeous?

Here’s my day.  And I’m leaving out the 4 hours of scrubbing instruments…it just doesn’t photograph all that great.

I arrived at 9am and there were LOTS of animals waiting…with their people.  The first patient was a cat that was trapped on St. Catherine’s Academy School grounds.  The rest of the animals were pets.

It’s a beautiful school in one of the nicest areas of Belize City – the Fort George area.

Belize Humane Society was selling some cute stuff.  What dog doesn’t need a Belikin scarf?

Awwwww….

There were plenty of surgeries happening with just 2 doctors – Dr. Baptiste, who who works in Belmopan and with the Hopkins Humane Society – would arrive in a bit.

The recovery area…as they are waking up…tongues are usually hanging out.  It takes a while to get all your limbs working…

Some dogs (and owners waited for hours)…best to get there early!

Kids peeking in on their pet.

Even this little sweetie was fixed and doing just fine a few hours later.

Two or three Belize TV stations showed up to talk about the importance of the clinic and the eradication that just happened in our capital – Belmopan.

It’s the law in Belize.  There are no dog catchers or town funded pounds.  When dogs are deemed a nuisance and/or a public health problem, they are poisoned.  Poisoning dogs in a very painful and often drawn out way…meat balls with strychnine poisoning.  Spaying and neutering will help control the population – there are no two ways about it.  There MUST be a more humane way.

So important to fix both male and female dogs.   Sure your male dog isn’t having puppies…but he could be out there making hundreds of them as well as catching and spreading disease.  TVT is a horrendous sexual transmitted tumor here in Belize.

The clinic is spending three days in Belize City – all weekend at St Catherine’s Academy.  Come early!  Bring your animals.  Treatement for spay/neuter, de-worming, flea and tick and tests for tick fever are free.

And here is a little tag-along.  A puppy found at their last location, earlier this week.  A puppy found in the trash.  She is JUST starting to eat…a very little and has a bad case of mange.  But we are hoping for her.

Most of the animals helped were pets…and it is so great that they are being seen by vets and vet students…and SO great that they are being fixed.  And that we saw lots of cats.  Three days could mean over 300 animal.

Look at all of these volunteers!  This is no small operation.  Most traveled from Canada or the US to help.

A FANTASTIC start for this amazing AMAZING group of volunteers and the super-human crew from Hopkins Humane Society – the tiny village humane society that is making a change in an entire country.

I hope there is another one (or ten) in the city…perhaps hitting some of the rougher neighborhoods where education, as well as medical help would be HUGE.

I walked back to the boat passing some of the oldest houses in Belize – ones that have survived some of the fiercest hurricanes and still stand.

Check out the Hopkins Humane Society facebook page for lots more pictures of the clinics…and to find out how you can help.  AND if you are in Belize City…get on down to St. Catherine’s!