This morning there was a children’s kite-flying contest in a nearby soccer field, and it was warmer than ever. The day began with a meeting, where it was decided that the team begin doing house calls. Many of the islanders are at work during the day and are unable to deliver their animals to the clinic.
“We’re going to start going door-to-door. Hopefully through going door-to-door, we can recruit some surgeries too. At least they’ll all get vaccinated and de-wormed. I don’t think people know where this place is,” said Donna.
The group was split into teams and the map of town divided up amongst them.
“We talked to a lot of people,” said Isabelle. “We had the camera crew filming us…it was awesome.”
Dr. Anna and Barb
Caitlin and Barb visited a grade one class to review their teachings from the week prior, with Laurie and Cathy (credits include The National, Cottage Country and Out of Bounds, a women’s outdoor adventure program on WTN) accompanying them with their camera. On their way to the school, a woman on a golf cart interrupted her ride to thank CAAT for visiting the island, for their hard work and for caring about the island’s animals.
The children at Caye Caulker Roman Catholic Elementary had no trouble remembering what Barb and Caitlin had discussed with them last week.
Caitlin and Barb at the schoolCaitlin: What do you do if a dog comes up to you?
Children: Stand like a tree!
Caitlin: What do you do if a dog bites you? First of all, do we run?
Children: No!
Caitlin: Do we scream?
Children: No!
Caitlin: Do you try to kick the dog?
Children: No! You lie like a log!
“I bet there are going to be a lot less dog fights,” Caitlin observed while leaving the schoolyard.
Today the team also visited Kenny, a gentleman on the island who owns thirty-five cats and two dogs. “We have to address that really sick cat,” said Chris. One of Kenny’s cats had respiratory issues, a tumour in his mouth, and was very emaciated - euthanization was the most humane option. The team managed to vaccinate and de-worm twenty-nine out of the thirty-five cats and both dogs, and all the animals were spayed or neutered prior to CAAT’s arrival on Caye Caulker.
Dr. Gina and her team remained at Madi’s in surgery, and Dr. Jennifer B, who was administering vaccines and de-worming in the morning, relieved Dr. Gina in surgery for the afternoon.
It was a busy and productive day for CAAT's team, and they were rewarded with a reggae-accompanied sunset sail around the northern part of the island.
Most of the team before the sunset sail
The sunset from the boat
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