Raining Cats and Dogs

Theoretically speaking, because there are strays everywhere. There is no spaying/neutering in Jamaica, nor in Cambodia. Perhaps among the wealthy, but most cannot afford such a luxury. It is hard not to love on these animals, but many have fleas and/or mange, and in some instances, rabies. I remember sitting on my cabin patio, on the ground, and reading at the end of a long day while in Jamaica. Before too much time has passed, a sweet dog came and laid down close to me. As I was reaching out my hand to offer a gentle pat on it’s back, Joe, security/logistician on the team, yelled out a loud, “Don’t touch that dog, Erin!” At first I was perplexed, thinking I had done something wrong, being the ‘newby’. But when he caught up with me later that evening, he explained that most animals in these third world countries were carriers of potentially transmissible things (fleas, rabies, mange), and it is best (regulatory by FDI standards of protocol) not to touch them. I wondered if pigs and monkeys fell into that category…

Riley, our security/logistician was absent the day we visited Angkor Wat, otherwise I am certain he would have spoken out when we were in monkey-topia. Sadly, he was recuperating in the hotel after coming down with a bad cold. Four others have gotten the bug, but I am grateful to have bypassed that!

The precious dogs of doom (😂😂not really…)