Many BIBers choose to bring pet dogs or cats along to their new home when they move here.

Both dogs and cats, given the opportunity, will not hesitate to prey on the native wildlife. Cats, with their ability to leap, climb, or prowl silently through the underbrush, are particularly hard on birds, nests, nestlings, snakes and lizards, and small mammals they encounter.  Dogs not only will chase and eat wildlife, given the opportunity, but their barking can frighten wildlife completely away from the vicinity.

For these reasons, rules about domestic animals were written into the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CCRs) which we all signed when we purchased our lots at BIB.

Here is what we signed with regard to keeping BIB as natural as possible:

1.1. Purpose
These covenants establish policies and procedures so we can co-exist with and within the natural habitats with minimal impact. The enactment and ongoing enforcement of these covenants will serve to maintain the natural condition and value of “Better In Belize” properties and make the community harmonious and aesthetically pleasing.

And to help make this happen, we agreed to the following with regard to our pets:

5.4.2
Domestic animals will be allowed in BIB, but owner takes responsibility for all waste removal and non-interference with residents, flora and wildlife. Dog and cat owners must provide proof of rabies vaccination. All pets (including cats) must be on leash when outside of the dwelling. Cats must be kept indoors so as not to disturb the wildlife.

So if you have pets, your choice is to keep them inside the house/veranda, or in the case of dogs, have a sturdy fenced area to reliably keep your dog/s in – and any passing jaguar outside. Jaguars have killed and eaten dogs along Hydro Road within in the last decade, so that is a genuine concern.

Cats must be kept within our residences, but if taken out for a walk must be on a leash the same as dogs.

It isn’t enough to be “sure” that your dog will obey your command to not chase wildlife which runs out of the bushes in front of it.

An escaped cat or an unleashed dog moving through the underbrush, even if only a few feet from its owner, can easily bite down on a toad that oozes a toxic goo from its skin that is fatal to animals.

Here’s a link to an article about the venomous cane toad. This toad is here at BIB, and eating it can kill your pet. Walter and Georgette’s Weimaraner, CiCi, encountered one and started frothing at the mouth, so they quickly stuck a hose in her mouth and flushed her out. Not something you do lightly, but if it’s a matter of life and death…… and CiCi is fine now.

Venomous snakes such as the fer de lance (called yellow-jaw tommygoff in Belize) and other wildlife which might harm your pet are also resting in or traveling through the forest – and at times even crossing the road or trail in front of a pet owner walking with a pet. This is their home. The leash will make sure that a safe distance is maintained, and that the wildlife (and your pet) can escape unharmed.

There are a lot of strange noises and alien smells which might make your dog nervous or upset. If your dog is a barker, please find ways to keep it entertained or pacified so that it doesn’t disturb the neighbors or frighten off the wildlife which keep the ecosystem in balance and give us so much pleasure to watch and photograph.