Union Island 2010

This post is going to be the beginning of many along a common thread - Spay and Neuter and why the stray dog population is out of control in the Caribbean. Last week, I was on a sailing trip to the Grenadine Islands (yes, the trip was wonderful!) and was astounded at the living conditions of the dogs on the various islands. I guess, living in Boston, I'm used to seeing dogs riding in cars, walked on leashes, and neatly groomed. Occasionally, I'll see a human-less dog, but it's usually just lost - not a stray.

Tangent: in the Southern states, there are significantly more stray dogs, especially in the wake of Hurricane Katrina - all to be discussed later. However, for the purpose of this entry, I'm not used to seeing stray dogs in Boston.

Back to the islands. During the entire week I was in Grenada and the surrounding islands, I only saw one dog with an owner being walked on a leash - and it was right by the International Airport in Grenada - one of the more developed areas, if you can call it that. Otherwise, the goats were more tame than the dogs. Tied up to the sides of people's houses were goats, sometimes several of them. I haven't done the research to find out why, but it seemed like the people had more attachment to the goats than they did the hundreds of dogs running around lose.


This is Macy. She was a very sweet girl who loved being pet.

Most of the dogs I saw were either un-neutered males or females that had clearly given birth to at least one litter (defined by their scared and enlarged nipples), and almost all were malnourished. They often travelled in packs, small groups of 2 or 3 and wandered the streets bravely, barely taking notice of the passing cars. The people there were clearly accustomed to sharing the road with the dogs because the cars slowed down (sort of, more often just swerved) and the dogs casually moved to the side of the road when they encountered one another.

One dog I saw lying on the side of the road didn't even budge as our 12 passenger van barreled by it. The dog didn't even lift it's head. Another dog I saw was covered in ticks. All of the dogs seemed to have a "territory" if you will, but no human to look after them. Almost of the dogs were initially afraid of people, however, after some coaxing, I found that most were really just scared and love starved. They really liked being pet once they realized the situation was safe.

Thus, the initial skittish behavior, the malnourishment (to the point of bone protrusion) and the flea/tick infestation of a majority of the dogs encountered made me realize that there is a true problem in the islands. Most of it can be traced back to the lack of reproduction control (i.e. animals are not being spayed/neutered and are thus reproducing at exponential rates).

This poor guy was so malnourished and shy. He wouldn't let me come any closer to him.


While I plan on discussing the spay/neuter issue more at length in future posts, I wanted to provide a link to help animals in similar situations. World Vets (www.worldvets.org) is a non profit organization that sends volunteers all over the world to set up and execute free spay/neuter clinics for the local population. I will be going on one of these trips to Nicaragua in May.