Megan, a financial consultant, living in London, England decided to take an adventurous plunge to help the animals at the P.A.W. Cat Sanctuary & Humane Society.

How? By asking friends, family, and co-workers to give a few dollars to watch her do something terrifying; skydive out of a plane! Everyone she asked was happy to give and encourage her to try something new. In the process learning how their donation would help provide food, shelter, sterilization procedures and medical care to the homeless cats of Caye Caulker.

On November 5, Megan bravely flew out of a little plane and successfully glided to the ground. The total raised was $965 USD!!! Thanks to the generosity of all who donated the cats will have a much Merrier Christmas this year!

Megan hopes that her efforts will inspire others to think of creative ways to raise funds for the animals of P.A.W. Sanctuary as well!

 

Madi Collins founder of C.A.A.T.S. takes her work across the border to help so many unwanted castaways.  In keeping with C.A.A.T.S. mission to control animal population, Ms. Collins has opened their first low cost sterilization clinic in the city of Chetumal, Quintanaroo Mexico.  This clinic is a prototype and its a grass roots project which C.A.A.T.S. plans to implement in many locations throughout Belize & Chetumal, Mexico.  Her project was inaugurated in May, 2011 by the Mayor of Chetumal, Mexico.  So far this work is funded solely through C.A.A.T.S. fundraising team.  We are in dire need of assistance from vets  overseas to continue this wonderful project to help so many animals.  We welcome any vets who want to help.  If you would like to participate in one of our massive spay clinics, donate much  needed vet equipment/material or  cash, please email us at caatsinfo@yahoo.com for more information.

Blacky now named Mateo was found on Caye Caulker with a chain & padlocked embedded in his skin.  His foster mom Veli cared for him and treated the severe wounds for several weeks while we looked for an adoptive home.  We are so happy that after weeks of looking my wonderful friend Vicky took him under her wings escorted him to the U.S. and placed him in a wonderful foster home with one of the greatest foster moms.  We are so greatful that Mateo got a second chance at life because he deserves a little bit of happiness after all he has been through.  Mateo is lucky to have found wonderful people who looked out for his well being and worked together for his full recovery.  Thank you Veli, Vicky, Jess .  You guys rock!

Check out the link below to Mateo’s Journey to the United States.http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150368188479078.371748.71049854077&type=3

In Continuing with PAWS & C.A.A.T.S. philosophy to control animal population, we  just finished a special training for local vets on safer and high volume sterilization techniques in the city of Chetumal Mexico, so that vets can better assist their communities. Over 30 street animals were sterilized on this day. A special thanks to Dr. Hayes, President of C.A.A.T.S. Veterinary Dept., the vets who attended, C.A.A.T.S. team & everyone who helped. You guys rocked!!!

A few months ago a posting on the dog/cat eradication in the village of Caye Caulker prompted our concern and led us to presenting our proposal to the chairman of the village council Mr. Alberto Villanueva.
Paws philosophy to the stray animal population  is NO KILL. We do not believe in euthanasia either through poisoning or lethal injection to control animal population. There are far better humane options that are long term solutions.

The owners of animals roaming the streets are at fault and  should be held accountable.  Its wrong to punish an animal that has no fault what so ever and is only roaming to find food because they are hungry.

PAW believes that we all have created this stray dog problem through lack of foresight and responsibility so we should come together to find a better solution.

The eradication via euthanasia of any sort does not work, if it did, we would no longer be seeing dogs on the street the day after an eradication as is the current case here where the Caye Caulker Humane Society & the Caye Caulker Village Council came together to euthanize animals.  This is concrete proof that this sort of so called population control DOES NOT WORK.

The following long term sustainable solution is PAWS proposal and we believe that Caye Caulker is small enough that results could be achieved and we will see positive impact. It has worked in many large metropolitan cities in the United States and Europe.   We hope that the Caye Caulker Village Council can implement all or any of the suggestions below because we are certain that it would have a far better impact on the current situation.

Proposal

1. Find homes for the stray dogs – PAW has taken this step and found homes in Canada for a couple of dogs prior to the eradication. Every animal deserves a chance.

2. Mandatory Micro- Chipping of pets – P.A.W. has offered to donate micro-chips.  We are only waiting on the Village Council Chairman to tell us he wants them. This will enforce accountability on owners. Owners can no longer say that a dog does not belong to them. If animal are found roaming owners will be held liable and be charge a fee.

Please be aware that we are not microchipping animals so owners can find them if they are lost or they move.  This is only being done to help the Caye Caulker Village Council locally to identify ownership and hold owners accountable for their pets.
3. Mandatory Licensing/registration- Again this will also enforce accountability. Owners cannot lie about ownership .

To license dogs owners must pay a fee which will include a picture ID, micro-chip & sterilization and must meet age criteria since many youngsters are not responsible pet owners put their dogs to fight with other dogs and these dogs end up on the streets once the owner begins to neglect the dog.

In addition, there must be a minimum of one pet per household. Many people cannot afford to have more than one dog and only want them when they are cute puppies but as they age these dogs end up on the street.

We also proposed a special license for individuals who want to breed their animals however these individuals must meet certain criteria regarding the welfare of the animal.

We recommend that licensing fees go to a humane education program or funding for low cost sterilization.

4. Mandatory Sterilization of pets – Studies show that un-sterilized dogs are more likely to stray and attract packs which can become unsafe for people. Furthermore this is the only way to humanely & efficiently control animal population. Statistics show that one un-sterilized female dog & off spring produces 67,000 puppies in 6 years.

The ideas behind this proposition is to foremost promote the health, safety and general welfare of the residents of this island by reducing the number of stray dogs and cats by responsibly and humanely eliminating the excessive numbers of unwanted animals on the island of Caye Caulker & foremost keeping animals healthy & safe.

These ideas will stop the needless killing of these animals be it by poisoning or lethal injection by restricting the breeding practices of pet owners and breeders and enforcing responsible pet care and ownership through legislation that is both reasonable and enforceable.

Basically, the rationale behind PAWS proposition is if you don’t take part to help better the situation with the stray dog situation and overpopulation of animals on Caye Caulker then you should not be allowed to contribute to the problem either.
The ideas behind our proposal are based on statistics compiled by our volunteers & members of PAW visiting homes and observing pet owners first hand. We hope that PAWS proposal can help in some way and that it may be implemented.

In keeping up with our mission to try and control animal population on the island, we sterilized 5 dogs at our last sterilization clinic.   Thanks to Dr. Baptist and our volunteer Cora.

Here at PAW we care & believe in animals.  In keeping up with this belief,  we conduct bi-weekly vet clinics at the sanctuary as well as make home visits on a weekly basis in order to provide care to those animals whose owners may not have the time to get to the clinic.  In addition, we specifically make the time for these home visits so we can detect any signs of animal abuse and or neglect and provide assistance to those animals.  With the Hurricane season here we provide information for hurricane preparedness as well as educate pet owners about providing lots of cool clean water to pets & making sure they are kept in cool shady areas in order to prevent dehydration during these hot Summer months.

When we learned that our friend Pilar, the director of Huellitas de Dios, a rescue organizations in Quintana-Roo was ill and needed our help we went to the rescue.

Our lovely volunteers Linda & Sue were more than happy to jump on the chicken bus with Madi, President of PAW and bus it 4 hours away from our island to do all they could to help.

Immediately after we arrived we set up clinic and the pet owners were there waiting for us patiently. Linda took some kitties and doggies under her wings and they were sterilized that same night.

We returned the next day very happy that we were able to help in some way.

Linda and Sue you guys will go on our ROCK star list, because you do rock!!! We miss you guys.

“PAWS ACROSS THE BOARDER” is a project of P.A.W. to help control animal population through sterilization in villages throughout Belize and across the boarder in Mexico where there is  little or no veterinary assistance.

Hi Friends,

Island greetings !

We want to take this opportunity to give you an update on life at PAW.  We wish we can say all good things have happened but as we all know life does not work that way all the time.

It’s been a year of trials and tribulations , frustrations and most of all sadness.   But , there has also been a sprinkle of happiness in between and  it’s with these little sprinkles of sugar that we pick up ourselves and continue to be there for each and every animal we can help.

As many of you know I said goodbye to dad 8 months ago after his two year battle with cancer. I have been there for him every step of the way traveling 10 hours every week to be there for his treatments in Merida, Yucatan and running back to make sure everything was going well at the sanctuary.

At the same time, I also bid farewell to three of my beloved feline babies as they crossed over the rainbow bridge.  It was difficult caring for a sick father and for the beloved animals at the same time.

Our beloved Tango lost his life to his battle with liver cancer , our little April his battle with heartworm disease and our precious Cloudy his battle with UTIs.

I will always miss each and every one of my feline babies and my father too, they will always remain in my heart.

I want to take this opportunity to thank my dear friend Kate who came all the way from Canada to help me out, without her, all my  running around would not have been possible .  Her generosity, kindness and the love she had for all the animals at PAW is so graciously appreciated.

We love you Kate, thank you so very much for all that you have done for us.

We want to give a  special thank you to all our friends, all our volunteers and all our guests who were there for us in our time of need.

Thanks to all of you for being there for us every step of the way offering advice, lending an ear, a sholder to cry on, volunteering , donating , spreading our good news to others.

Friends, as you all know, most of our funding to care for the animals at PAW come through the generosity of the people who rent our accommodations so their money could go to a good cause.  If it wasn’t for these kind people who preferred  renting our apartments and spending their vacations with us instead of at a hotel, caring for our animals would not have been possible.  We want to give a special thank you to everyone who have stayed with us in the past for their support and care.

If anyone is looking for a unique island for their vacation please visit Caye Caulker and come stay with us to help a good cause.

Kind regards,

Madi

Life is back to normal at PAW and the kitties are enjoying it!

Our sterilization campaign with our invited friends from CAAT – The Canadian Animal Assistant Team was a huge success, many animals were helped with eye surgeries, dental extractions, sterilizations, and other treatments. 

But after two weeks of doggies, kitties and people daily visiting the sanctuary grounds the furry residents’ routine of roaming the entire day was interrupted and the animals did not liked this very much.

So now the kitties are enjoying every bit of space, sunshine and tranquility!

Even little April who’s health was severely affected by Revolution but survived, is back to spending his day at the edge of the beach paw fishing.

What a wonderful feeling it is to see them all happy!

Madi Collins

Founder