Saga attends Caribbean Animal Welfare Conference

Press Release – SAGA Humane Society – April 27, 2011 - Katia Marin and Heidi Sowards, two of SAGA’s Directors attended the 2011 Caribbean Animal Welfare Conference in San Juan Puerto Rico. April 3rd - 5th.
Held from April 3rd through the 5th, the three day conference included different types of humane societies, shelters and rescue groups coming together to talk and share ideas about the great work that they do. There were all kinds of international speakers from St. Thomas, Bahamas and even the Belize Society. Clara Lee Arnold from the Hopkins Humane Society spoke about the changes that have happened in Hopkins since they started bringing vet teams to hold spay and neuter clinics. The topics included ‘Animal Capture and Handling Techniques’, ‘Surveying Roaming Dogs’ Population and Increasing Adoptions’, and ‘Marketing and Fundraising Strategies’, just to mention a few. SAGA would like to thank Clara Lee for donating jewelry, which she and her husband make themselves out of shells.

Katia and SAGA Volunteer Heather Beck also attended the International Association of Canine Professional (IACP) conference in San Diego April 7th - 9th which included speakers Wendy Volhard, Joel Silverman, Jeff King and the main speaker Cesar Millan. Following the Conference the two volunteered their time at Best Friends Animal Society to work on some dogs at Dog Town Sanctuary. Dog Town is home to dogs rescued after the devastating Hurricane Katrina, and it also houses Michael Vick’s dogs.

Kind Kids Write 2010 - Essay Writing Contest - Winners Announced

Press Release – Be Kind Belize – December 20th, 2010 – Be Kind Belize, in cooperation with The San Pedro Sun and AmbergrisCaye.com is delighted to announce the winners of the Kind Kids Write 2010 Essay writing contest.

The theme of the essay writing contest was ‘Kindness’ and it was open to all students in Standards 4, 5 & 6 at schools in San Pedro.

All essays were judged blind by our three independent judges, Mary Gonzalez – writer, Chris Emmanuel – writer and Katia Marin – pet expert. None of the judges knew the identity of the writers or the school they represented. The judges were unanimous in saying that the essays were very impressive and even brought some of them to tears. It was a hard decision but here are the winners:
1st Prize Girls – Kendice Armstrong, Holy Cross Anglican School
1st Prize Boys – Ruben Francois, Island Academy
1st Prize for most enthusiastic participation from a school – Holy Cross Anglican School

Runners Up: Allessandra Gutierrez, R. C. School, Jamie Valentin, R. C. School, Deschana Lewis, H. C. School, Aliyah Elliott, H. C. School, Ada Cordova, H. C. School, Joseline Vasquez, H. C. School.
Many thanks to S.P. Hardware for giving us a great discount on the two 1st Prize Awards. Kendice Armstrong and Ruben Francois will both be receiving a bicycle as their first prize. All of the Runners Up will receive prize packs containing scholastic items and other goodies all donated by generous Be Kind Belize supporters. The winning essays will be published in The San Pedro Sun and online with AmbergrisCaye.com. Prize winners may arrange to collect their winner’s certificates and prizes by calling Be Kind Belize at 226-4366 or 624-8251.

Be Kind Belize is a free programme, designed to complement the Belize National Curriculum. It is available to any school that would like to introduce the concept of kindness to their pupils. Volunteers are always welcome. If you would like more information about how you or your school could participate in Be Kind Belize or if you would like to volunteer, please contact Be Kind Belize at 226-4366 or 624-8251.