The Original Belize Blog Since 2007 – tacogirl.com
Yesterday Maureen asked me to put her letter in the blog regarding her thoughts on the recent dog poisoning. She is doing quite well all things considered. Maureen and John now have a new puppy given to them by friends to help keep them busy. Maureen commented that she can tell Snoopy and Sebastian are still wondering what has happened as things are not quite the same as they used to be and they are still getting familiar with the new puppy.
Puppy update Maureen at the pool today – the new puppy wants to play with the other dogs and they have been there and done that and are not quite up for the challenge. The puppy likes to snuggle up in bed and give Maureen playful bites before going to sleep.
The most Devastating and Tragic Time of Our life.
The Day my Husband and I lost our 3 babies our doggies to a most devastating and harmful death from a desperate poison.
It’s so hard and emotional to go through this tragedy. My whole life is planned around my dogs, they are with me all the time, never without me. It helps to think of the wonderful happiness they gave us and the love and caring we gave them, Bennie, Tamara and Greta. Snoopy and Sebastien survived but the other three always go to play with Pat & Kimmy’s dogs while Snoopy and Sebastian stayed at my heels. My heart goes out to Pat & Kimmy who lost their puppy’s also Mr & Mrs McLean who lost beautiful Lola and Harriette who shared Greta’s wonderful love and affection.
I realize now how many truly compassionate friends my husband and I have in San Pedro and other parts of the world they have truly shared out terrible grief.
It is better to have loved with all your heart and passion than have lost in never loving at all.
Sincerely and with happy memories Maureen and John.
I agree Shannon – very sad.
Hi Janet Donald and Megan. I will make sure John and Maureen see your comment.
So shocked and sorry to hear what happened to your 3 lovely dogs – can’t believe there are such cruel people out there who would do this. You both must be absolutely devastated.
Try to remember the happy times you shared together and look forward to the future with Snoopy, Sebastien and the lovely Suzannah.
No one could give a better home to dogs than you two – we are all thinking about you and send you all our love.
Janet, Donald and Megan (John’s sister and family)
How terribly sad. I’m sorry to hear about all of the dogs who lost their lives in this tragic even. 🙁
Jean & Doug and all will make sure Maureen sees your comments.
Grant thanks for answering Remo’s comment. Remo thanks for your thoughts and questions.
Graeme & Linni I am going to ring Maureen and let her know of your message. She happened to be at Johns work when I rang and was so please to hear your words. As soon as John has a free minute they will check and read the comments.
Have just read this, Maureen & John, our hearts go out to you both. We are deeply saddened about this. As you know, Maureen, we have been brought up with dogs all our lives and have always loved every one of them so we know how you are both feeling. We went through the same grief & pain when we lost Jen at 3 yrs old, it’s somehow worse when you lose them before their time, you can somehow cope when they reach old age and it is their time to go but this is so hard to take. We hope the culprits are caught and punished but, to put it bluntly, hanging would be too good for the scum who did this!
Our thoughts are with you both and hope that time will heal.
We are thinking about you.
Graeme, Linni & Family
I told the Boys and they will hopefully email John with a message, they are all as shocked as we are.
Remo,
These poisoning were not carried out by any ‘official’ person, or in any official capacity, so no warnings were given in any form. The general thought is that it is a criminal element, heartlessly removing the early warning system before they go and carry out their criminal acts.
I know you refer to Belize City, but I just want to clarify the difference between there and here.
Here on the island, poisonings have not happened for quite some time thanks to the great work done by the local humane society, which regularly rounds up strays. These strays are cleaned, brought to health, ‘fixed’, and then they are put up for adoption. There is no ‘one week and you are out’ rule here, some pets have been in the shelter for quite some time.
It does cost money to keep these animals, but thanks to the very generous donations to Saga Humane Society from far and wide, the animals of Ambergris Caye have had a better life for quite some time. Saga Humane Society recently celebrated, rather quietly, its tenth anniversary.
I would also like to pass on my condolenses to all those affected by this heartless act, but it is good to see that John and Maureen have recently got another puppy, which you know is going to be well and truly loved. At last, something to smile about with this painful event.
Here are my thoughts on the matter…….
First off, my deepest sympathies to Maureen and John for the loss of their dogs. As a dog lover myself I feel their pain.
My dad was telling me that in the past Belize City had a dog pound and when the dogs were captured they would be kept and fed for a week before being put to sleep if nobody came to claim them. It was hard work because the men capturing the dogs had little to no safety equipment and tools to work with. But, that is another story right there.
So why is there no dog pound now? Well, a couple reasons but mainly it was because many of the dogs were owned by poor families that could not afford the fee to reclaim their dogs and others simply did not care to reclaim their dogs. The Government had to feed and house the animals and it was proven to be a rather costly venture. I am skipping other details here but that main reasons more or less.
Anyway, it was proven more “cost effective” to simply warn the public that mass poisoning would be held at such and such a time and then proceed to poison the “strays” for a certain period of time soon after.
Owners would make every effort to keep their animals inside their property for that period and if not? Then that was unfortunate for them I guess:(
So are the mass poisonings humane? Well, that is a loaded question indeed and one for a good debate.
I disagree with mass poisonings but in a PERFECT WORLD Belize would have quite a few dog pounds with proper equipment and ALL people would GLADLY PAY the fee to reclaim their dogs. The sad reality is that I doubt that will happen anytime soon considering all the immediate economics concerns the Country is facing today.
Sadly, incidents like this will continue to occur with the present methods.
Once again I am sorry for the loss of their pets.
cheers…………..
Our pets touch us in so many special ways – they see past the external beings we are and straight to our hearts 🙂
Thank you for sharing your story as this is a story that needs to be told. We are so sorry for your loss!