Don't take things for granted

The history of this Rescue Centre is very sad. I know I've said this before, but Sarita is such a passionate person. This morning before our morning meeting she gave a brief history of the Centre. It's amazing to see how far it's come. This evening she had a "history of the Centre" class, where she told us all about how it started. Hearing her talk tonight was very inspiring and makes me want to get involved more with helping animals in any way that I can. I also want people to be aware of the lives of some of these animals here. Bought on the pet trade or black market. The capuchins and spider monkeys were bought and used for entertainment purposes. People paid money to come see them, then they'd be put into tiny cages the rest of the time. This is just the monkeys. But, that's for a different time.

The original Centre started out 11 years ago on the Caribbean coast and had 10 acres of land. There was a dome call the butterfly garden where all the birds and monkeys lived together. They had a pool for the turtles. The land they were on was right on the coast where the Leatherback turtles would lay their eggs. This place sounds like it was beautiful. Most of them were released when they were ready. One day the government came and told the Centre they had 5 days to move 67 animals because they were going to build a mega port. Luckily they had a lawyer who was able to get them 3 weeks instead of 5 days, but that still wasn't enough time to safely move all 67 animals 5 hours away to the place it is now. They didn't have the materials or the transportation to do it in the best way possible. Unfortunately, they lost several animals in the move due to the stress of the move. The center they are at currently is not the best case scenario for these wild animals and Sarita knows that. But, it's the best they can do for now. They've bought the new Centre and when it's all finished the animals that are non releasable will have bigger enclosures and better conditions. 

It's very hard to see the animals like this but it's nice to hear the hopefulness Sarita had for these animals and hopefully more will be released soon. 

Being apart of this transition into the new Centre is an honor and privilege and I'm happy I can be part of their history. I've really learned more than I thought imaginable in the 8 days I've been here. I'm going to make the most out of these last 4 days, even though it's hard seeing the animals this way, on top of some volunteers who don't take the Centre as seriously as others. Yes, it's fun to play with the animals during enrichment time, but while you're in cleaning their cages or giving them food and water you're there to do just that, not interact with them. The Centre wants to release as many as they can, but if the animals get too used to humans then they can't be put back in the wild. It's just sad to see that some people don't understand this and it's been hard to deal with a bit. Sarita's passion though really shines through in those dark moments. 

Love, 

Trying to save the world, one animal at a time