NewcombGirl

I understand there are many stray animals on St. Kitts. Is it a problem, i.e., are the animals neglected or mistreated? My SO wants a relaxing vacation, but if the situation is bad, it will turn into a rescue trip (which will displease the SO). Please advise. Thanks so much!

cw

I don't think you will have a problem with stray animals. We have gone to St. Kitts numerous times and have never been approached by stray dogs or cats. Now monkeys are a different story, they will come and visit when you go to Turtle Beach! But they are not strays.
St. Kitts has a highly regarded vetenarian school, Ross University, so domestic animals are able to get good care.
Go, and enjoy.
cw

Dblebee

You will not be bothered by animals and the monkeys have been run off from Turtle Beach. They were getting out of control and they now have a new sheriff on the beach, 400lb+ Wilbur the pig.

NewcombGirl

Thanks for the info. It's not that the animals bother me; to the contrary. I would spend the entire trip trying to ensure their good health and care, and that, in the eyes of my SO, does not constitute a vacation. BTW, I did some Internet searching, and the information isn't all good about the Ross school's treatment of the animals on the island.

Dblebee

Ross is probably the best in the world as a vet school, for one reason, students can learn surgical procedures and actually do it where as here in the states, it's illegal. Don't like to use the word "bleeding hearts" but thats the way it is.

BrendaJ1955

Hi, we have just returned from 1 week on St Kitts. Much like a lot of other places there were a lot of stray dogs about (saw fewer cats). While not looking like healthy pets they did not appear to be mistreated. In fact some locals feed the strays as well as their own dogs. We chatted with a vet school student on our travels and she said the animals don't fare too badly there and confirmed what we had seen, that some locals feed them. We have seen far worse conditions for dogs and cats in our travels. As for monkeys we only saw one the whole week (apart from a couple of caged ones) on a walk off the beaten track. We did see the pig on Turtle Beach, who was marvelous and rambunctious.

marigold

You've got me curious. I've never been to St. Kitts, and I'm wondering how the pig scares the monkeys away. If a 400-pound pig demanded my lunch, I'd probably hand it over.

I've been to Tobago several times, and it always saddens me to see stray cats and dogs. One person recently reported seeing two dogs tear apart a kitten on the grounds of a hotel. That would tear me apart emotionally. I'm going to find out how to contribute to spay/neuter programs. I've seen the same kind of problems in other tropical places.