Starting the New Year Right

[Moose in Belize]

If spay and neuter is done regularly on the stray population the stray numbers decrease rapidly.

Beth, you seem to be right on top of this so I hope you can clarify. I didn't realize that strays were being spayed or neutered. How do they come to be in SAGA's control? Does SAGA conduct an annual roundup or something similar. I'm not sure how they decide what dogs are strays, but that is another issue.

[bethieb]

In Austin where I volunteer, we catch strays (there aren't too many dogs around thanks to decades of this practice, but lots of cats because they are so feral and more difficult to trap) and take them to vet clinics that provide discounts or gratis spay/neuter to the various shelters and humane societies.    I believe that when Laurie Droke was the SAGA vet, she and the SAGA staff implemented rounding up of beach dogs/strays/cats and performed spay/neuters and that many of the dogs were then living at Fort Dog to be adopted out.  Some of those rounded up that were infectiously ill or terminal were likely euthanized by medically humane methods.   I don't know that round ups were done regularly prior to that in SP, but I do know that adoptable strays were spayed/neutered when medically possible.    Thevet can provide you with details of what SAGA did in this regard.

[Moose in Belize]

Our local humane society picks up loose dogs as well. The dogs usually evade capture, or try to. If they have a tag, the owner is contacted and charged to get their dog back. If they aren't tagged, they are put up for adoption for a short period of time and then euthanized if there are no takers. That's life in the city. The strays in San Pedro are so friendly that it would be easy to pick them up and take them to SAGA.

[JZB]

Since the beginning of Saga, they have picked up strays (round ups) off the streets/beach, 'fixed' them, put a collar on them and put the healthy ones back out into the streets.  Back then there were packs of dogs in and around town and on the beach.  The spay and neuter program has made an immense difference in the number of stray dogs out there. 

[peterbj7]

Something Laurie started, or at any rate developed to a much higher level than before, was negotiating with the Town Council that so long as SAGA (which of course she was then a member of) kept the stray dog population under control and neutered those strays they could catch, the Town Board would suspend the repeat programs of dog poisoning.  This to me and to many others was a huge achievement.  But if she is to believed (and I believe she is) this program ceased with her resignation as vet.

It's not going to take long for the Council to realise that SAGA is no longer in a position to fulfil its side of the agreement.  Unless some way can be found in the near future to resume it, which for the time being at any rate involves SAGA cooperating with SPAH, we are in danger of the Town Council unilaterally and without notice resuming that (to me) despicable activity.

[Moose in Belize]

Unless some way can be found in the near future to resume it, which for the time being at any rate involves SAGA cooperating with SPAH, we are in danger of the Town Council unilaterally and without notice resuming that (to me) despicable activity.

That may be a blessing in disguise if it results in some level of cooperation.

[JZB]

Although I told myself I was going to stop posting because this is just getting tiring,  I just want to make the point that it is the Health Inspector who determines and carries out the poisoning.  The health inspector works for the Health department, not the town board.  It was a couple years back we had an inspector on the island that did not like animals (to put it nicely) and we wound up with a few poisonings.  We do have a new health inspector on the island and we just need to hope she is a nice, level headed person.

Although Laurie was great for the organization and she jumped in with everything she had to improve things she is not the saint from heaven you are all making her out to be. (No offence intended vet, I'm just calling it from the sidelines)  Our last vet (if you all remember heather) also took a leadership role and tried to get many things done also.  Unfortunately the SAGA board also told her to stick to being a vet and nothing more.   The point is that Saga will not wither up and die because Laurie left to open her own clinic.  They do need to update the way they are working for the new decade, but they are certainly not dead.

Lets move on. 

[bethieb]

I don't think this issue is about saints and sinners.   There are some cold hard facts concerning SAGA's board's actions which have obviously caused a lot of people who donate to question its veracity and ability to run the org.   Sometimes you have to clean house because as we all know, when you get sloppy or worse, secretive, with money it can be a downhill slide into losing focus of doing the right thing.   Especially if its money donated for the highest and best use for the animals...

I have consistently said I hope SAGA redeems itself for all the best reasons in the world, I just have not seen even a modicum of that to date.    I think things are moving on ... perhaps in a new direction with a new source of support for SPAH's charitable cases.

[peterbj7]

it is the Health Inspector who determines and carries out the poisoning.  The health inspector works for the Health department, not the town board

You're quite right of course.  I should have just said "officialdom".

As to moving on, that's just what most of us want.  Trouble is, that isn't happening at present and it isn't clear how it's going to happen.

[thevet]

JZB - you are right - I am not a saint from heaven.  Look who my boyfriend is!  I think that is fairly obvious.  And I am certainly not afraid to stick up for myself when I am lied to or am treated in a condescending way.  Which is what happened to me at Saga and is still happening to me now whenever I am unfortunate enough to have to deal with them.  But that is another story...I had a point here...what was it?  Right -- my point is that I am not a saint but I did a LOT of good work for Saga in my year there.  Heather (the vet before me, not the recent volunteer) appears to have done a lot of great work as well for the first year.  After that JZB is right, everything fell apart as it did with me, likely because she was treated as I was.  Her reaction was different from me - she stayed on but would not speak to the board.  She only worked three days a week.  She asked for more money as I did, and was turned down, so she took more money for herself when doing housecalls etc.  Then they hired me and offered me more money than Heather.  I suspect the same thing will continue to happen.  Saga will pay more money whenever they think they have a new vet they can control.  The new vet they hire will likely be paid an amount similar to what I asked for as my raise -- $200 a week more.  It will work for a while, then the cycle will continue...

To answer your question about rounding up strays -- yes, Saga has done this from the beginning.  Now the issue is that most of the overpopulation is not from true strays, but from the majority of the dog population which is owned pets who are not neutered and allowed to roam.  Ingrid was probably the person most responsible for the huge increase in the numbers of spays and neuters that we did while I was there.  Heather was not very active on the spay neuter front - but I made it one of my larger goals.  So I let Ingrid handle it as she is amazing in her ability to negotiate with owners and get them to spay and neuter.  Whether they paid or not...she would find a way to talk them into it.  That is why I wrote in my goodbye letter - thank you to the pet owners who allowed us to spay and neuter their pets. 

True roundups were done about a year ago when we were informed that poisoning was imminent by the health inspector and town board.  JZB - the health inspector carries out the poisoning but it was my understanding that the request comes from the town board.  Sadly the animals rounded up were almost all euthanized as the shelter was full at the time.  But it was done humanely and we focused on animals with sexually transmitted tumors who were spreading the disease, pregnant strays etc and did not pick up any dogs with a collar.  We also avoided picking up the strays that were spayed and neutered, although there were a few problem animals that we were forced to euthanize who had already been fixed.  This was an extremely sad time for Ingrid, Noami, and myself.  The stray dog population here is so sweet...but
there are just not enough homes for them all so we did what we had to do.  Katy was then just a volunteer instead of a chairperson.  She was a fantastic volunteer and was one of the very few who helped with the round ups, as was Colette.  Sad how things change.  But anyway, our efforts were successful and the eradication never happened.  In my year at Saga I would check in with the officials periodically to ask what complaints with animals they had had and what we could do to help...they were very open to working with me and I felt we had developed a good relationship.  Later with the poisonings in Caye Cauker I heard word that the health inspectors recommended that Caye Cauker look to San Pedro and Saga as a model for preventing future eradications and controlling the dog population.

I hope that answers some of your questions.  If not let me know.