Trip featured adventure, emergency treatment of animals

This past summer the Schaaf family made a trip to the Central American country of Belize. The first week was spent on the mainland, exploring ancient ruins, including Tikal, in Guatemala, and adventuring down a river in a canoe, riding horses in the rain forest and visiting a local veterinary hospital. There we were able to discuss the differences in veterinary medicine between our two countries, as well as the similarities. The second week was spent on a VERY small island, where we were treated as friends, and permitted to assist in the emergency treatment of several animals.

Kenny aids stray cats on Caye Caulker

During our stay on Caye Caulker we met a very caring man, named Kenny, who lives in a small shed in an undeveloped lot next to the hotel where we stayed. Kenny's mission in life is to help all the stray cats that show up on the island, including newborn kittens.

Unfortunately, Kenny has limited access to medical care, and vaccines, but does his best to take care of his four-legged friends. Kenny is certain that his cats have food and needed care before he takes care of his own needs. He is a special animal lover, who doesn't complain about his situation in life, but just makes the best of it.

A local veterinarian comes from the mainland of Belize once every month or two. If the humane society has raised enough funds, Kenny is able to have some of his cats spayed/neutered and vaccinated. While we were not able to perform surgeries for Kenny, as we had hoped to, we did leave a large donation before we left to help with their care. The day we left the island, the mainland veterinarian came, by boat, to treat the sick animals on the island, and also did surgery on several of Kenny's cats. We were happy to meet the local vets. We also took some education materials for Kenny to give to the local children, which seemed to please him very much. We hope to return to Caye Caulker in the future, with the proper authorization to help treat Kenny's cats.

Please feel free to send a donation for Kenny's cats via our clinic ($1 US equals $2 Belize -- so your money goes twice as far!)