You’re never further than ten feet of a dog on Caye Caulker, which makes it hard for tourists to get down Middle Street. This does not seem like it has always been an amicable debate, which is why there are a lot of animal shelters and the like on the island. Tourism especially on somewhere like Caye Caulker comes with its own range of negative implications, though I do believe tourism has come to feed a much kinder attitude toward pets. Observing this over the last few weeks has allowed me to gauge not only the disposition with strays and unruly pets, but the contrast between local pet owners and people that pass.

Petting a dog is not something we consider to avoid doing when we see one approaching, though the expanse of dogs getting more attention than that of their owners is one resulting in their new found ‘independence’ You could be stood at a bar in Caye Caulker and see dogs walking in and out just as casually as you would yourself, whether they come home depends on how well their night is going. Amongst the dive shops and restaurants that litter the sandy streets of Caye Caulker, the animal shelters that tuck in between each establishment house an array of different dogs just waiting for a new owner. Whether or not the dogs I have seen have been mistreated or just want to use the new opportunity of open spaces, it is commonplace to see at least one bolt down the road just before it is about to rain.

I spoke briefly with a few volunteers from the animal shelters and was informed that adoptions of these animals were certainly on the rise. One of the locals that invited me round to his house, showed me his dog that he had rescued from the animal shelter a few weeks before and was shocked to see the state it was in. It was covered in that many fleas but was too exhausted to itch or scratch, a skin condition had left a coat of blistered sores and infections. The owner assured me how he had now managed to get antibiotics and all the relevant ointments to treat the dog, to which I had seen improvements already the following week. It is great to see how the attitudes towards animals in poverty have improved, as the cost to feed and house a dog for some people may be more of a burden than the initial blessing of companionship.