myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

We visited Rex Turtle Beach in May this year. For the first few days we noticed three puppies. One was a male, cream coloured pup and the other two were brothers of about three months old. We used to give them scraps of food, as did the other guests.

On our fourth day there we noticed that the cream pup and one of the brothers had disappeared. They never came back and we were told by several locals that a lot of puppies are poisoned simply to keep the numbers down.

My husband and I decided that we would try to bring the surviving puppy home to England. Surely it couldn't be that difficult ! We had two weeks of our three week holiday left, plenty of time to make arrangements ?
We spent the rest of our holiday producing paperwork after paperwork to some jobsworth at the airport who isn't even going to get his name published on my report because it makes me so angry that he wasted so much of our time and the poor puppy's life sending us round Tobago for piece after piece of paperwok he makes me sick to think his name let alone write it !!!!!!

Anyway in desperation after our return with the matter unresolved I telephoned Steve Wooler ( otherwise known as Mr Fix-it ) and he put me in touch with James Blackshaw, who had rescued two dogs a few years ago. As luck would have it James and his wife were travelling to Tobago two days after I had spoken to him.
Once in Tobago James joined ranks with Mrs Phillips who leads the T.S.P.C.A and together they arranged everything to send the puppy ( who we have named Carib ) home to England. We wired some money to James and he dealt with the rest.

Carib finally arrived safely in England on Saturday and was transferred to the quarantine kennels on Monday. I went to see him on Monday afternoon ( and most days since !!!! ). He is adorable. The vet here thinks that he is about five months now and probably a Rhodesian Ridgeback cross Labrador. He is fit and healthy and every time I see him I thank goodness that we kept trying to get him home.

The only down side to the story is that Carib will have to stay at the quarantine kennels for six months and will probably be the size of a small horse by the time we get to take him home !!

I want to say a huge thank you to James Blackshaw and his wife for giving up half their holiday to help us and to Mrs Phillips from the T.S.P.C.A for being so caring and looking after Carib so well. Most of all THANKS to Mr Fix-it for such a brilliant website. Without you all Carib would still be in Tobago in God knows what state.

Hope you like the photos !!! The first one is taken around the pool when he was about 12 weeks and the second one was taken about 5 weeks later before he flew home.

Regards Sandra Daniel

Hi Sandra,

What a lovely story. Well done to you (and to James and his wife) for arranging it. It's great to see.

I believe, a week or so ago, that T&T were declared a rabies free zone, and now, subject to several tests being done on the animal before it leaves T&T, they can be taken back to the UK.

I know a couple of years ago the TSPCA arranged for a UK vet to come over and spay/neuter dogs and cats in an attempt to keep the population down - which was a great idea... although, believe it or not, I understand that there was some problem with the vet coming over without a work permit - even though he/she was doing the work for charity and not getting paid at all! I'd have thought that this kind of thing should be encouraged by the THA, but hey!

There ARE lots of dogs and cats on the island that would make absolutely ideal pets. Since I've been here, I've taken on three cats and a puppy. I wouldn't trade them for the world, but it's sad to know that there are so many more on the island that would LOVE a chance with a home and family... sigh. I know cats, particularly have a hard time being rehoused. The mentality here seems to be that dogs at least offer some form of protection, but a cat doesn't fulfil any worthwhile roll. (This is obviously the opinion of people who have never been 'owned' by a cat!). However, I've been threatened with divorce if bring home any more animals... (I THINK that's supposed to be a deterrent!!!).

Whist, obviously, adopting a pet while you're here is not something that should be undertaken lightly, a visit to the TSPCA is an eye opening experience. The work of Mrs Phillips and her staff make her eligible for a medal in my book, if not a sainthood. The thing to bear in mind now is that if you DO fall in love with an animal here, it IS possible to do something about it!! They have a website - http://tobagoisland.com/tspca/ which I hope Steve doesn't mind me advertising on here!

I hope Carib is wonderfully happy in his new home. I'm sure he will be! I'm glad you found eachother.

Best wishes,
Lisa

Hi Sandra,

Well done for your determination for bringing back Carib. I'm sure my husband would bring back a planeload of dogs given the chance, but as we already have two at home I think that is enough. One of them incidentally is called Carib!

Linda

Hi Lisa

Thanks for your reply. If it is correct that Tobago is now a rabies free zone do you think that it would be possible for Carib to have these various tests in England and depending on results be released from quarantine ?

He only arrived in England on 1st July which was about the time that you thought Tobago had been declared rabies free. I can't find anything in writing to confirm this and I would have thought that Pamela Phillips would have known about it and she didn't mention anything ?

If you have any written info please let me know. I did have a quick look on the T.S.P.C.A. website but no info jumped out at me!

Regards Sandra

Hello Sandra.I've had alook on the Defra web site and found that you do not have to quarantine a dog coming from T&T.Look at
http://www.defra.gov.uk/quarantine/pets ... pport-info
The title is;Pet Travel Scheme,long haul countries eligible pets.
Good luck,David[/url][/u]

Lisa - you are more than welcome to promote the TTSPCA as much as you like here - I'm 100% behind them - but that is NOT their website. That is simply some information on a defunct website written in 2004 and not updated since. The TTSPCA website was at http://www.ttspca.org but the site is no longer hosted. I have today written to the TTSPCA committee member who was hosting the site asking for an update. Either he's no longer involved and has withdrawn his support, or its a funding problem.

Sandra or Jame (or anyone else) - do you have an email address for Mrs Phillips at the TTSPCA? I am more than happy to show my support and promote the association by hosting a website for them - its simply a matter of me being able to get the information from them.

Hi David

Thanks for that. I'm afraid I can find a page at that link, but after some hunting did find http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/index.htm

I haven't had the time to study it all in detail, but it would seem to give some degree of hope. What I have done is to download a fact sheet from the DEFRA site covering the PETS scheme for non-EU countries. You can download this PDF document here - http://www.myTobago.info/forum/images/u ... heet4a.pdf

Hi Sandra

How wonderful for you and your husband to bring Carib back to the UK - he looks lovely and I'm sure will be an adoring and faithful pet.

So pleased that Steve, James and his wife and Mrs Phillips could help you and I bet that you'll be looking forward to the end of quarantine.

Gill M

Hi David + Steve

Thanks for all the info my head is reeling now with all that reading ! It does look hopeful that quarantine is possibly not needed but I'll phone the helpline on Monday to check.

I am planning on speaking to Pamela later today Steve so I will get her email address for you then.

Best wishes

Sandra

Hi Sandra

It's OK - I've spoken to Pamela already today. We'll have a website up and running for them within a couple of day, hopefully.

Well you beat me to it Steve! I was going to let her have a bit of a lay-in on a Saturday but she always seems to be up at the crack of dawn any day!!

Sandra

Well I HAD a lay in this morning and have just gotten up to find that this string has now become 9 long!! Am really pleased that the information was correct and well done Steve re the website!!

What great news to start my day with!!

Great to hear Carib is happily now in UK. It was a pleasure having him for a week and my dogs are most upset their 'boyfriend' is no longer around to play with. (they are only 5 months old too!)
The new quarantine regime is good news for a lot of folks and the shelter would be happy to board future dogs for visitors to the island who decide to adopt a Tobago dog. It would work out cheaper than UK quarantine fees.
I am the Secretary of the Tobago Branch of the TSPCA and am very much invoved with the day to day running of the shelter. I have produced several newsletters for our members and would post it on the web if possible.
I hope to help with the set up of a better website link with the help of Steve.
Hope the 6 months passes quickly for Carib!
Andrea

Hi Andrea

Sorry to have missed you off my list of, " Thank Yous". I still do not quite follow as to whether or not Carib needs to be in quarantine for six months. From your last post I presume he should have stayed in Tobago for various tests and then come to England ?

It really doesn't matter anyway. He's only 20 minutes away from us and we can see him as often as we like. If he definately has to stay for the full six months he'll be home with us on New Years Eve !!!!

Thanks Andrea for all your help too.

Best Wishes

Sandra

Hi Sandra
Carib would have had to stay here for 6 months after being micro chipped and had his rabies shots as well as blood tests from a recognised testing centre. Either way he has to have a 6 months observation period whether in the UK or here. From your point of view, at least, you see him on a regular basis rather than him still being over here. We had ridge backs when we lived in Zambia but Carib seems a bit more intelligent than my pair ever were!
Best Wishes & love to Carib

Ahhhh thanks Andrea it all becomes clear now. Thats what I needed a clear explanation in easy to understand English! Thank you!

I have heard that ridge backs are quite difficult to train and am hoping that his learning side is the labrador part as we have a lab here already and she was very easy to train.

Sandra

At last its December and Carib has only got 31 days left in quarantine.
Poor thing is bored out of his mind and has started biting himself in frustration. The vet has prescribed cream and a special bath for him every few weeks, but I just want to get him home.

He is really big now and much taller than my 9yr old when he jumps up on his back legs! I will post another picture ( with Steves help ) when we get him home.

As well as being excited I'm a little bit nervous as how to house train a 10 month old puppy after he has been couped up in a kennel for six months !
any tips would be gratefully accepted.

Bye for now

Sandra

Sandra

Well done for being so persistent and managing to give Carib a good home after so much effort. I'm sure I read that our local rescue centre (Lord Whisky) helped bring a couple of dogs over from Tobago a year or so ago. I would probably bring all the cats back with me, given half a chance, but I don't think our four would approve.

If Steve doesn't mind my posting an unrelated link, you ask about doggy advice. There is a BBC messageboard, related to The Archers, called the Village Hall which has a regular Dog Club thread. I'm sure there are all sorts of other places to go for advice, but there are a lot of experienced people posting here, and the community are most welcoming. The link of the latest thread is:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbarchers/F269 ... ad=3700752

Hope that's OK. Good luck with the new arrival.

Jo x

Thanks for that Jo, I will have a look.

Sandra

Hi Sandra
Really good to hear a story with such a happy ending.
I have just been looking on the Defra website for information regarding the approved transport of dogs into the UK from Tobago. There does not appear to be a listing for Tobago, although there is one for Barbados. How did you transport Carib back to the UK? Would welcome any information on carriers and costs etc. Do you think it would be possible to negotiate a deal for transporting more than one animal? It would be great to set up a regular transport deal to enable more of these lovely dogs to be rehomed in the UK (eg a pre-set yearly quota). There must be lots of tourists who consider taking a dog home but are put off by all the organisation involved. It is very sad that their main chance of being re-homed is probably with tourists.
Any info gratefully received.
Manda