I thought I would follow up on my original post with a post- vacation message. My son was bit by a dog on the island. As a light sleeper I was awakened many times at night by dogs barking. I had discounted this complaint by another traveler who had reviewed the hotel I stayed in.

I was dismayed that in the middle of the lodging area of the island there was an animal rescue site with excessive numbers of cats and dogs were housed. I love animals. However, on Caye Caulker, the dogs and cats have displaced the native wildlife except the birds that do not live on or near the ground. It seems to me that if the residents and businesses on the island wanted to increase tourism there would be an effort made to protect the island wildlife from introduced species.

Here in Houston people are required to pick up the mess their animals leave. I would think that Caye Caulker, a place where walking barefoot is encouraged should adopt an ordinance that required people to keep their animals on a leash and pick up their mess.

With a little bit of common sense one can have a safe trip to Caye Caulker. It would be nice if the bottler of the water and drinks would create a plastic recycling program for Belize. Litter is everywhere.

I believed that I would have a relaxing and restful time on the island. Instead my son was bit by a dog and I could not sleep because of dogs barking all night. The snorkeling and sailing was very nice. My daughter donated a laptop computer to the new high school.

I understand that I am an outsider. I also recognize that trash and noise complaints exist everywhere. I just believe that if I were given a free trip back to Caye Caulker I would turn it down. If I did not care at all about the residents of the island I would not have encouraged my daughter to donate her laptop. I would not have even posted this note. I hope and pray that Caye Caulker will expend serious effort to enact local ordinances to require their residents to reduce the damage that their animals do to the island.