An early morning trip to the TTSPCA left me exhausted by lunchtime. On sample collection days, I have to make it to the shelter before 8:30, or else the kennels will be cleaned. So on those days, I leave the house by 7:45 to make it by 8:30. Today, I was there with time to spare, one of these rare traffic-free days. Per usual, I played with the dog whos supplied me with poop. I fell in love with one dog in particular. Snickers, a matted Maltese-type fluffball was at first hesitant to come near me. I didn't take her long before she was resting on my lap and allowing me to give her belly rubs. I have never seen a more matted dog. Good luck to those lucky ones at TTSPCA who have to groom her!

Shoutout to Sara at TTSPCA and Barkkin Dogs (pet supplies store) for liasing so that 6 bags of dog food were donated to the Waterloo dogs! The backseat of the car is packed with puppy and dog chow. The plan was to drop off a bag today, but, like I said at the very beginning of this post, I was exhausted! Maybe tomorrow. And I would also like to thank Annette from TTSPCA for assisting in my questionnaire distribution. Annette is undoubtedly the nicest person I've met during my stay in Trinidad, and look forward to chatting with her every time I visit the shelter.

My CAN (Conservation Action Network) talk went well. I presented to an audience of about 30-40 about how roaming dogs can impact conservation. It was a stretch, but I think I managed to convince some people. It didn't hurt that Marc, another presenter from the Trini Eco Warriors, had a video of sea turtle hatchlings being eaten by a dog at Grand Riviere, the second largest sea turtle nesting beach in the world. Sigh. There is so much to do in T&T with so little time (and I'm not referring to the time I have left, but the time that the environment has left)!

Gia and Ricardo

Kelton Thomas, Falconer