Another wonderful day in T&T. The workshop on the control of stray dogs was this morning. Those in attendance included public health officers, veterinarians, members from NGOs, dog catchers, and the T&T tourism board. A speaker from the World Society for the Protection of Animals spoke about population control strategies in Central America and Caribbean. There are some success stories in the region, such as in Grenada where the government has taken an active role in the stray dog problem. Trinidad really needs to step it up and I want to be a part of it.

I finally got to meet the members of the TTSPCA in Tobago,and I'm quite excited to begin working with them. They have a free spay-neuter event coming up in January, just in time for when vet students from Cornell should arrive in Trinidad. Stay tuned!

Today's workshop really got my cogs churning. I want to create a documentary on the different perspectives Trinidadians have regarding stray dogs to include interviews, candid videos of people interacting with strays, videos of stray animals going about their daily routine, and the sort. It will be something tangible that I'd like to hand-deliver to Prime Minister Persaud-Bissessar. Ha. Again, stay tuned!

After the workshop, I decided to visit the Emperor Valley Zoo to say "What's up" to some of the animals. It is currently in the process of some much needed construction. I swear, the lion hasn't moved in years! He's always asleep in the same spot in his concrete enclosure. I cheated with regard to bird watching. I saw a bunch of different species of birds at the zoo, the coolest being the Purple Honeycreeper.

On my way home I stopped off at a paint store. With Daniel's visit fast-approaching, my room needs to be painted within the next two weeks. I decided on the most appropriate color (without even seeing the name of it): leapfrog green! The paint is going to cost about $55US. Ridiculous!

An afternoon nap awaits due to another night of poor sleep.

Mary Soodeen and Sara Maynard from the TTSPCA in Tobago and the St. James branch in Trinidad, respectively


Brainstorm in progress


Purple Honeycreeper


Manny, the mandrill. The mandrill is my favorite primate. Guess why? :-)


Spectacled Owl. What a cutie!

6:21pm update: Recovering from a heart attack. Sparky decided to wander out of the yard while I was updating this blog. I absent-mindedly forget to close and lock the gate. He was well on his way to the hills of Santa Cruz. What a bad dog! He ran back to me excitedly when I called him. What a good dog! That would have been something...

Shifty little dog