7/3/08

Dogs

Please meet Lola!

She is a pothound, and one of about 3 or 4 pothounds that hang around campus all day, every day.  She is one of the nicest dogs I’ve ever met.  No one I have talked to has been able to say definitively if any of the dogs have homes, or if they are just fed and cared for by someone on campus.  All of the campus dogs are friendly, healthy, and flea-and-tick free.  They all have collars with rabies vaccination tags on them.  But again, with the vet school on campus, someone there could easily be looking after them.

Lola also has a special tag that says, “I already have a home, but you can love me anyway!”  So possibly she does have someplace to go to at night.  Or not.

For the most part, though, I don’t worry about Lola, or any of the other campus dogs.  I just give them a lot of love when I see them, like most of the students do.  Sometimes they even follow me home and hang out on our porch for a while.  Last week, I had to carry one dog down the driveway and walk him back to school, because he refused to leave, and I didn’t want him to forget his way home (if he has a home).

It’s a good number of the other dogs on the island that break my heart some days.

Pothounds are mutts of unidentified mixed-breed origin.  I’m not sure if the term “Pothound” is common only in Grenada and Trinidad, or if it’s pervasive throughout the Caribbean.  But I’ve been told they’re called this, because they’re prone to “hanging around the pot”, waiting for food to eat.

For the most part, they are smart, well-mannered, loving dogs (we would love to bring one back with us).  They are the most common type of dog on the island, and since education here about spaying/neutering animals is just starting to take off, there are always too many Pothound puppies being born. In addition, many local people let their dogs run loose, which helps to increase the puppy population.

Dog owners will put a collar on their dog (to signify that someone is caring for it), but they let the dog come and go from their house as it pleases.  For a well-socialized, well-fed dog that lives in an area where there aren’t too many cars, this can be a pretty nice life.  But so many dogs get hit by cars every day that it’s hard for me to think that it would be worth the risk.  Most days of the week, I’ll be out walking and see a dog almost get run over.  Those times, I’ll clench my teeth to keep from screaming, and wish I could jump out of my skin.  Luckily, I haven’t seen an accident yet, but I’ve seen plenty of examples of the aftermath when people bring their injured dogs to the SPCA where I volunteer.

I’ve seen some pretty terrible stuff.

But more terrible are the dogs that are tied to a tree in a yard for their entire life, and just thrown bones that are left from the family dinner.  Of course, I understand that there are many people that can’t afford to by dog food, but I’ve seen so many dogs tied to trees and in our emergency room that are practically skeletons, that I wonder why a family would keep a dog that they can’t afford to care for.

I’ve talked to lots of people here about this–folks from Grenada, from elsewhere in the Caribbean, people from other countries who have lived here for years.  From their answers, it seems to boil down to a lack of education about humane treatment of animals.  Many people here–and of course in the states as well–just don’t consider a dog to be an important being.  They’re kept around to chase away rodents, and to keep thieves off of their property.  But, it still seems to me that (even if your dog isn’t a member of the family) you’d want to keep your worker dog healthy and fed so that they can do their job for years to come.

And what thief will be afraid of a dog that is obviously tied to a tree, anyway?!?

There are plenty of people here who I’ve met who DO love their animals, and take wonderful care of them.  I’ve met some families who can’t can’t afford to buy dog food, but their dog will get its own portion of whatever the rest of the family is eating at meal-times, and most of these dogs are healthy and happy.  But it’s really hard for me some days to see the dogs who are starving, or have mange so bad that all of their hair is gone, or limping around because they were hit by a car weeks ago and never taken to see a vet.  Again, sometimes the reason might be lack of education, sometimes the reason might be lack of money, and of course, there are some people are just cruel and believe that a suffering dog is not a big deal because it’s “just a dog.”

I’m always struck by the bizarre irony of people (usually men) who don’t want to neuter their dog, because it will “take away the dog’s manhood”, but at the same time they don’t make sure the dog is fed properly.

The need in this country is great for wider education about the importance and benefits of spaying/neutering your pet, but I can’t say that the conversations on this issue that I’ve had with people who live here are that different than those I’ve had with some Americans.  And I know that most of the same problems exist for dogs on a much larger scale in the states. I’ve definitely gotten a lot of hands-on, personal experience with my volunteer work that I didn’t expect.

I’ve had enough puppies die in my arms, and I’ve seen enough dogs with terrible injuries as a result of getting hit by a car because they’re roaming around looking for a mate.  I’ve also seen enough dogs neglected and/or abandoned because their owner has taken in a dog that they really didn’t want in the first place, to help out a friend or neighbor that had puppies that they also didn’t want.

Seriously, folks.  Spay and neuter your pets.  More than 8 thousand companion animals are euthanized EVERY DAY in the United States (3-4 million per year) because of pet overpopulation.

If you want more information, the Humane Society of the United States is a good place to start.

That is all.  *climbing down off my soapbox*

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6/8/08

Lizards

Many people do not find lizards all that interesting, but I think that they are very cool indeed.

Here is one that has been hanging around outside of our front window this morning:

Isn’t he pretty?

Thankfully, none have gotten inside of our house yet, because I’m sure if (when) the cats found it, we would immediately witness a recreation of Wild Kingdom in our kitchen.

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6/8/08

Owls

There’s an owl that lives somewhere around our house. He flies around after dark, because that’s a good time for owls to find something to eat, I suppose.

I know he’s there, because I can always hear him screeching when he goes around the house. He sounds kind of like this.

I really want to see him, but I haven’t been able to catch a glimpse of him (or her. it?). If I ever figure out what kind of owl it is, I will post a photo.

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Roosters

There is a rooster that lives at the coast guard station across the street from our house. I’ve never seen him, but we hear him all the time. (Here’s a question: why are there so many animals living at the coast guard station? And why have we never seen them take their boat out for a spin? Like, never ever?)

When we first got here, he used to wake us up before 6am every day, but now that we’re used to him, we don’t even hear him anymore.

I’m not from a rural area, so I had no idea that roosters actually crow ALL DAY every day.

Listen, there he is now…

Shut up, rooster!

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5/28/08

Ants

Our principal enemies these days are the ants that keep getting into our house. Most people on the island that I’ve talked to have substantial problems with ants as well.

They are a tiny, relentless foe that will not give up. And even when we think that they have given up, it is simply because they have disappeared for a few days to regroup and revise their plan of attack.

I’ve spent days smearing boric acid around every entrance to the house and in every crack that could possibly be used to get inside. We are vigilant about washing the dishes, cleaning the counters, sweeping the floors. On the good advice of our friend Ashley, we have created moats around the cats’ food, and put most of our food either in plastic bags or in the refrigerator.

But they still keep coming. There are days when we get fed up with watching the never-ceasing line of interlopers scurrying in and out of our apartment. And then one of us takes out our bottle of insect poison and sprays every last one of them that can be found. But usually the respite only lasts a few hours, and then the next morning, there is another line of ants making its way into our house.

A month ago Breck found ants both in his underwear drawer and mine. I just have no idea why they would have been there, but for a few moments, I wanted to cry.

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5/27/08

Turtles

Last week, we went with a group of friends to Levera Beach to see the Leatherback Turtles nesting at night. Lavera is on the northern-most side of the island, about 20 miles from where we live. Levera Beach was recently added to Grenada’s National Park system, because it is such an important nesting site for birds and the Leatherback Turtle, which is now on the critically dangered species list.

Our guides from the Leatherback Turtle preservation organization were fantastic; all of them were young Grenadian men who had clearly trained closely with marine biologists so that they could teach others about the life and reproductive habits of the Leatherback Turtle. Our group never ran out of questions for them, and we really learned a lot.

Since the turtles only lay and hatch from May to September, we were right on time to see some good turtle action. We had to wait about an hour on the beach before a turtle actually made its way up from the sea and dug a hole to lay its eggs. By then it was about 10pm, but as luck would have it, there was a full moon, so we had no trouble seeing everything.

From the moment the turtle emerged from the water, we couldn’t believe how BIG it was. This was one of the few times that I had neglected to do any research about the subject, and so I really didn’t know what to expect. Female Leatherbacks grow to about 6 feet long, 4 feet wide, and males can get to between 7 and 8 feet long. It looked like a monster was coming straight at us.

The turtle moved all the way from the water to the top of the beach, and then dug a hole for its eggs with its back feet. When the hole was too deep for its feet to reach the bottom any more, It laid about 150 eggs, each a perfect sphere (a little larger than a golf ball). The turtle then covered the hole and trudged slowly back to the ocean. The whole process took a little more than an hour, and it was amazing.

We weren’t allowed to take any flash photography (so that we wouldn’t upset the turtles, of course), so these photos I found elsewhere on the internet will have to suffice.

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5/17/08

Goats! and Sheep!

Several days a week, the goats and sheep (who live across the street at the Coast Guard station) come and have lunch in our front yard. They leave their own property every day just after 12pm, which is very Grenadian of them.

Almost the entire island breaks for lunch at that time, so, why not them as well?

When our cats see them, they are absolutely mesmerized, as well as appalled about the whole thing.

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