Other Services Junior PHS Puppy Care Clinic Emergency Triage Triage Clinics Feral Cats Satellite Shelters Off-Peninsula Shelter

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info@placencia-pets.org

Dog Fencing Program:  PHS loans the cost of materials and supervisory labor to assist Placencia Village residents in  building runs to safely confine their dogs. Residents receiving loans must agree to repay a portion of the loan each week and to construct the run. Loans are interest free.

Loan Program:  Many pet owners in the area cannot afford the often expensive medications required to properly treat the many diseases and parasites that plague pets in the tropics.

Others have a hard time with even basic care such as vaccinations, monthly flea and tick treatments, even supplies such as collars and leashes. 

PHS loans these pet owners up to 100% of the cost of treatment, medications and supplies, in return for a written promise by the pet owner to pay back the loan each month in whatever amount he or she can afford.  (Often, monthly payments are less than BZ$10.)  No interest is charged on these loans.  As of January 2006, PHS has over BZ$4,000 in outstanding loans to local pet owners.

Junior PHS:  Junior PHS members are children in the Placencia area who are particularly interested in pet care and training.  In addition to attending pet care and training programs, Junior PHS members help at monthly clinics by taking care of dogs and cats dropped off by their owners for treatment.  Junior PHS members kicked off the program for the 2005 Halloween Parade and Costume Contest by leading participants and the audience in a rousing rendition of the  Belize National Anthem.  Their most recent project was the New Puppy Workshop at the March 2006 clinic.

Feral Cats:  Cats have a bad rap in Placencia - they're definitely not most people's pet of choice.  And, that attitude does make sense in communities in which most people relied primarily on fish as their main food staple, and had little or no refrigeration. (What happens when you leave out a piece of fish for dinner, forget to shut the window, and a few cats happen to stroll by?)

To make matters worse, the stray/feral cat population has exploded as the number of stray and unattended dogs has significantly decreased.  (Cats are much less susceptible to tropical diseases, too, so natural selection doesn't reduce numbers as it tends to do with dogs.)

PHS has responded with a feral cat spay and neuter program in which residents are asked to trap stray cats (with traps constructed and donated by Ron Pitt) and bring the cats to special clinics organized solely to spay and neuter them.  (Dr. Floyd Bennett volunteers his time for these clinics, and PHS pays for the necessary medical and surgical supplies.)

In addition, Board of Directors' member, Pam Keck, has started a kitten rescue program in which young kittens can be placed with Pam who will care for them until they are old enough to be spayed or neutered. PHS pays for the spaying and neutering, and then Pam again cares for the kitten until it is old enough to be released outdoors where she will continue to provide food for the spayed and neutered cats. 

Emergency Triage:

Recently Mitch whose owner lives on the north part of the Peninsula was attacked by an unknown animal.  An emergency Triage Crew consisting of Pamela and Karl Keck and also Dr. Alexis Caballero of the Placencia Medical Center sprung into action stitching up Mitch. (He required  32 stitches.) Mitch is recovering very nicely and plans on ordering new, brighter colored boxers.

Triage Clinics:  From time to time vets vacationing in Placencia assist Belize vets in providing vet care in communities with few pet care resources.  These veterinarians provide an invaluable service to pets and pet owners by providing healthy puppy and kitten screenings, vaccinations, neutering and spaying, emergency surgeries and donated veterinary supplies. 

PHS has to carefully coordinate these type of clinics among Belizean veterinarians, customs officials and local communities to ensure that only the neediest populations who would otherwise have no access to veterinary care are served. 

However, the results are more than worth the effort - at the last triage clinic held in August, 2005, a veterinary team from the Animal Hospital of Seminole, Florida, led by Dr. Cliff Barnett, saw 87 pets, performed 17 surgeries and administered 40 rabies shots in just 1.5 days!  (A big thanks to Dr. Barnett and Dr. Lisa Mallet, and Veterinary Technicians Erin Hawes and Amy Olsen.)