Dear Friends of PAW, Help Us Help The Cats During This Hurricane Season! And with 10 Top 10 Lists For Cat Lovers!, now you can help them help us. When you buy this unique resource for cat lovers for $9.98, you’ll be automatically directed through Paypal’s simple payment system where you’ll see an “Add instructions to seller” option box: just type in our name before paying and we receive $5! Check it out at http://www.cats.10top10lists.com

Please spread the word to your family , friends, neighbors, co-workers, and anyone you know and ask them to do the same so that we can raise enough money to rent a boat to take the animals off the island, a bus to take them to higher grounds and a house to safely house them until the hurricane passes.

We appreciate your kind support!

A few weeks ago Sarah from the U.K. who was living on the island for a few weeks while she completed her dive master certification came to PAW Sanctuary at 2:00 a.m. in the morning.  Of course I was fast asleep,  but the barking of my dogs woke me up, and I heard someone shouting my name.  I ran outside to see what was going on and Sarah was accompanied by this dog who had blood all over his face.

Sarah told me she was going home after hanging out with some friends and saw this dog going around in circles and their was blood gushing out from its head, so she could not leave the animal there and did not know what to do.  She then remembered meeting me through another volunteer from the UK that was here a few weeks before helping out and she decided to bring the dog here.

I cleaned up the largest wound on the dog’s head, stop the bleeding, put some antibiotics on the wound, and gave him meds for pain and infection.  We then placed him in a large cage with food and water until in the morning

At first we thought he was hit with something because we could not see his wound that well at night, but in the morning when i checked him over i noticed that he was attacked by another dog and after an investigation found out it was a pittbull.  Many men have pitbulls on this island and they teach them to go after smaller or sick defenseless dogs such as this one.

This poor dog had tons of punctured wounds all over his body, plus i discovered he had a huge lump under his neck.  In addition i felt so bad for him but he had tons of fleas and they were eating him alive so i decided to bathe him to kill the fleas and at the same time scrape off all the dry blood he had all over his body.   So the little guy seemed quite happy and content with this bath.

Since PAW is a cat rescue and we dont have the space for dogs I could not keep him, so i asked Sarah to go speak to the person who I believe was the owner and found out that the dog was homeless but the owner of this bar allows him to hangout there and they feed him but did not want to have the responsibility to nurse him.  So I ask Sarah to talk to another woman who helps dogs and the woman said they would come to pick up the dog and kept him for two days until he was a little better but they would then released him.

Nevertheless, I am so happy that I was able to save this dogs life, he was a very nice calm dog and wish i could have done more for him, but as always with limited funds there is just so much that we could do here at PAW.

I want to thank Sarah for her compassion and kindness in helping this dog in need.  People like her makes this planet a better place!

Madi Collins,

Founder of PAW

My determination paid off and I am overwhelmed with joy for our little Delila.  For the love of Delila I did not give up on looking for help for this lovely little girl.

Delila was brought to us by Steve and Nat, our volunteers who were called to assist little  Delila who was living in the backyard of a house that was being rented by a U.S. family.

Delila seemed blind in one eye and after taking her to a few vets here in Belize and getting the same diagnosis that not much could be done for her little eye and she would eventually loose her vision in the next eye, I investigated further and found out she was born with no eyelids.  I continued with my research to find out if there was help for her condition and I came across an article about a woman who had found a homeless cat with the same condition.  The article stated that a doctor in Texas did surgery on the cats eye and his vision was saved.   Out of desperation and figuring I had nothing to loose I emailed the doctor for help and he responded in no time stating that if I could get Delila there he would take care of her condition.

I started making calls to friends and my wonderful friend Laura put me in touch with Vikki and Jimmy who were passing through the Chetumal area and offered to take Delila all the way to Texas.  Yoo hoo!

After a 45 minute boat ride and a 3 hr. bus ride Delila and I made it to the boarder.  We both were so anxious and sad and could not sleep that night until wee hours of the morning.  Delila kept me up playing and being as cute as ever.  The next day Vikki and Jimmy arrived to pick her up and I felt so sad to see her go but happy at the same time knowing that Delila will get the help she needed.  I said goodbye and hugged and kissed my little one and the vehicle drove away.

A few days later they informed me that Delila was even luckier and had found a wonderful home where she will live out the rest of her happy days.  We miss little Delila but know that she will be well taken care of in her new home.

We want to personally give our appreciation and thanks to Laura, Vikki, Jimmy, Darci, Molly and the staff of the Texas Cat Hospital. Special thanks to Dr. Roy Smith for saving Delilas’ vision and giving her a chance at a better life and to Cynthia for all the assistance and love she is providing to Delila and keeping me up to date about her.  I also want to give a special thank you to Delila’s new mommy,  Patti, for giving Delila a forever home and a  wonderful chance at life.  You guys are wonderful!

Madi Collins

Founder

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

is with great sadness that I finally could write this post to let you all know that our beloved Molly has passed on.

Molly was a malnutritioned kitten who was found eight months ago on the sanctuary grounds starving and looking for food.  We took her in and gave her medical attention and lots of love and care and she blossomed into a beautiful, happy little girl.

When we first saw Molly , she looked very skinny and her coat looked white instead of black like the color she was.  Eight months later she had gained weight and her coat was beautiful and shiny,

But Molly suddenly died after she was treated with Revolution to kill fleas and mites.  The directions on the package stated that the product was safe for cats that were heartworm positive and although we had no idea that Molly could have possibly been infected with heartworm, in trying to do some good and give her some relief from the fleas, we treated her with the product but because she did have heartworms like the autopsy revealed, Molly died.

We did not get the chance to say goodbye to our little girl as her death was sudden.  But Molly touched our hearts and brought happiness to our lives.  She was an Angel of Joy!

Mosquitoes and heartworm are a sad reality in the tropics and since there is only so little funds for food and vet service, we cannot afford to buy heartworm prevention on a monthly basis, not to mention that this product is not sold in Belize.

We try to give our furry ones the best life possible by giving them a little bit of haven at PAW, without PAW they would have had an even shorter life span as many animals are poisoned, shot, tortured, or attacked by dogs, sadly however, heartworm is still taking our kitties away and there is nothing that we could do.

If anyone would like to donate heartworm prevention for our sanctuary residents or know of an organization that may be able to donate, please have them contact us at pawanimalsanctuarybelize@yahoo.com

We will always love you Molly!

Madi Collins

Founder

P.A.W. would like to thank Tracey & Clare from the U.K for all their help with the sanctuary animals during their week stay with us.  They are our first volunteers from the U.K and we certainly enjoyed having them here.  Their bubbly personalities cheered everyone up and their hands on experience made a world of a difference for our little sanctuary.  Not to mention their energy and stamina scrubbing and washing everything within their path, boy where do you guys get all that energy?  We learn so much from these two ladies and they will sure be missed!  Ladies, Peaches, Oso, Twinky and all the kitties and other animals miss you guys and send hello!

We welcome all volunteers from the U.K and other countries.  Come visit us and leave home with that fuzzy feeling as you will have a fun, rewarding experience.  To find out more about our Volunteer Vacation Program visit us at http://www.pawanimalsanctuarybelize.com

Little Bonsai is not tiny anymore, she is growing so fast.  It feels like it was just yesterday that she was brought in to the sanctuary.

Bonsai has had it with all the rain.  It’s been raining on the island for a few weeks now but since yesterday the weather channel announced that a tropical depression was in the area and it has been raining non stop.  Last night it thundered so loud that my three kitties were very afriad.  I was so sad for the other kitties in the cattery downstairs because I know that a few of them are also afraid of thunders.  This is little Bonsai in the picture who is not that little anymore.  Today Bonsai ran around the house like he was crazy tormenting the other 3 cats, she finally decided that since she couldn’t go outside on the deck the best thing for her would be to jump into her favorite hammock and dream the day away and maybe the sun will come out tomorrow and everything will be back to normal.

Mystic our new little girl brought to us only a few days ago on 9/22/08, is still in shock. While riding his bicycle a tourist found her swimming for her life. Next to her lay her dead siblings. Little Mystic was soaking wet and trembling from the cold. We immediately covered her in a warm blanket and gave her a quiet place to be. She is very scared and hides all day behind a bed. She comes out to eat and drink when no one is looking. We were very excited today when she finally came out to eat while we were there trying to get her attention with some toys. She is adorable and we know she will be alright thanks to the compassionate tourist who saved her life. Sadly there was nothing he could have done for the other siblings. Little Mystic needs a home, would you open your heart to her and take her home? To find out about adoption please see our pet adoptions information. We would also love your help to make a difference for all the other animals on this island and stop the abuse, so we implore on you to sign our petition against animal cruelty in Belize.

Sweet little Raisin was trapped during our healthy pets campaign week where we brought in a team of vets from the United States to provide free sterilization and other vet services to the island animals of Caye Caulker. Unfortunately the vets were unable to sterilize Raisin as she was very sick with an upper respiratory infection and would have died. So we kept her and nursed her until she got better and our vet at our PAWS for Pets clinic sterilized her after she got better. However, we got so used to Raisin and she to us that we were very sad to return her back in the little forest where she lived as she had already adapted to her new sanctuary life and we were afraid that she would have had a tough time trying to readjust to her old group and environment. So little Raisin will be living out her little life here at PAW unless she could find a wonderful home. If you would like to adoption her please pet adoptions information.