Animal Control

I love looking out my window and seeing three horses in the yard next door mowing the lawn. Mogley, the kitty, also loves to perch on the table by the window and watch in amazement at the big creatures in the big outside world. Apparently there is a rule here in Benque that if your horse if found 'stray', the police will come get it, take it to the station and keep him there tied up until the owner pays a fee to retrieve him. This works similar to the dog pound, except for the equine family I suppose. There's this one old grey horse thats been roaming the streets and grassy fields of the town since I've arrived and so far, I've never seen him arrested. Yesterday, two more horses joined him! A brown one and a white one. I personally, hope they roam free for my own amusement. And if they want to come visit my yard, there is plenty of grass to eat.

Dogs also roam free but for this animal group there is no humane society in Benque nor official "animal control". There are concerned citizens who will complain at the slightest provocation about the exorbitant amount of dogs that run the streets. They don't bother me because I'm not scared of dogs but for others, like the other PCV, I can see why it is a problem. MY brilliant solution would be to spay and neuter animals! People don't even know what that term means here though. With my cat for instance, a man will come to castrate him. At my house. It will be a peculiar and interesting day. I'm sure Mogley will hate me. Anyway, the dog solution is to poison them. Yep. They town council or police, not sure which, every now and again goes through the streets and puts out poison for the dogs to eat so that they die. This is their great idea for population control. Mass killings. Sometimes, people's dogs that they keep as pets die because they were out at the wrong time or because the poison found its way into the yards in which they are contained. Its really a ridiculous tragedy. I wonder about people being affected. So is this a powder? Liquid? Will I walk in it? Will I know if I walk in it? Will it then go into my house and possibly kill my cute little kitty? I'll have to go talk to the Mayor. He's very approachable and will certainly fill me in. Its nice to be a Peace Corps Volunteer and have easy access to the people who know whats what. I hope the same for other PCVs around. I'm finding it easy to be connected to the right people so far though in Benque.

Cats are not seen a whole lot. Probably because of the said large population of dogs. They are smart and stay inside, in tall grasses, or in the corners of shacks and abandoned buildings I would imagine. I still haven't found a cat litter box in Belize. Since I've brought home the kitty he's been using aluminum cooking pans that you can buy at the Chinese stores. The reusable kind. I had to buy a bigger one yesterday, he's growing and sometimes misses the box, which is not my idea of a good time. Whenever I've asked about buying this item, in all the many stores I've looked, people look at me like I'm crazy. Ok, so maybe cats here are only supposed to poo outside. Meh. That would be fabulous and perhaps we'll get to that point, but for now he can poo in the baking tins. That'll do.

Chickens I hear are fascinating. So far, I haven't seen to many here. I've been advised to spend some time watching the chickens. For folks in the little villages, I'm sure this is a grand way to pass the time. For me however, that would probably require watching chickens while sitting outside someone's yard very creepily. I already stand out. I think for now I'll wait for the chickens to come to me. Maybe I'll raise chickens... Hmm...