The Dominican Republic is quite rightly a popular holiday destination. Often tourists only get to see the sunny side of the country during their stay – which we do not begrudge them – but we would like to point out the less sunnier sides of the country, so that tourists do not unknowingly slip up when it comes to animal welfare and can enjoy their holidays with a clear conscience.
Dogs
The Dogs in the Dominican Republic belong to the friendliest of their kind. They live very socially and are hardly aggressive towards each other. Many of the street and beach dogs quickly make friends with tourists, they go for walks with them and even guard their loungers on the beach.
I often get e-mails with the following contents:
„We spent our holidays in the Dominican Republic. Nearly every day we saw a female beach dog and we bore a close relation with her after only a couple of days. First she was very shy and timid, but after feeding her regularly and playing with her for a couple of days she became very trusting and sometimes even „looked“ for us, as other tourists told us. Since we grew so fond of her in such a short period of time, we seriously thought about taking her back to Germany with us. Especially because we had the feeling, that she really missed having an owner and blossomed under all the attention we were giving her. The last couple of days she even followed us to our hotel room.“
Naturally, many animal-loving people will think: Yes, that’s right, the dog must be fed and needs attention and it is nice to give a home to the dog during your stay.“
Unfortunately far from it!
Since the tourism from abroad has decreased in the Dominican Republic, hotels are dependent of Dominican guests, e.g. from Santo Domingo which is their main source of income. Unfortunately stray dogs are hardly tolerated by Dominicans (often out of fear of infectious illnesses or out of disgust) – and therefore they are not tolerated by the hotels either.
I deeply condemn these cruel poisoning actions and constantly fight against them (which already handed me one or other threat with a weapon of the security service in the hotel...), but on the other hand it is not possible to keep all the dogs that have been brought into hotels by tourists.
• Ask before booking in which hotel poisonings have taken place (e.g. in forums such as HolidayCheck etc.), avoid hotels in which animals have been poisoned.
• Should you witness a poisoning action during your stay, document it with photos and report the case to your travel agent in USA/Europe, local employees usually can’t do anything for fear of loosing their job. Collect signatures from other tourists in your hotel and send them to your travel agent as well. Point out in hotel evaluation forums, that poisoning has taken place in this hotel. Only when the pressure from outside is strong enough and the hotel is threatened by financial losses, can something change.
• If you make friends with dogs, stay as far away from the hotel complex as possible..
• Feeding is absolutely alright, but only far away from the hotel complex.
• If the dogs follow you to the hotel, shoo them away – even if it is hard for you – or distract them by displaying food and while the dog is eating, go away.
• Inform and explain to other tourists in your hotel as well, why they shouldn't bring dogs into the complex.
• If you want to help animals during your stay, then take deworming products and products against fleas and tics with you to treat the animals.
• Those who want to do more can consult with if there is a good vet close to their hotel, where you can castrate one or the other street/beach dog at your own expenses during your stay – that way you not only help the single animal to a better quality in life, you will also contribute considerably to animal welfare in the Dominican Republic.
To take a dog with you into your hotel or sometimes even only to the hotel's own beach often means the death sentence for the dog!
There is hardly any large hotel complex that tolerates street/beach dogs. Often they turn a blind eye when the tourist brings the dog in, but after their departure the dog usually gets poisoned.
Cats
Many tourists will be surprised why there are – for example compared to European holiday resorts – so few cats. That's because cats have, until recently, been on the menu of some Dominicans. Yes, we animal friends find that very awful; on the other hand Indians will never understand why we eat cows, which are holy for them. In this way every cultural circle has its own understanding of aliments – in the end there is nothing to be said against it. Slowly cats are beginning to be kept as pets in the Dominican Republic as well, especially since the Dominicans discovered, that they are good rat catchers. So lately we have been castrating more and more female cats, to prevent an overpopulation from the getgo.
For cats the same is applicable as for dogs – please don't take them to the hotel complexes!
Horses
Should you be planning a horse-back trip, look at the animals before booking the trip! Please pay attention to the following:
• the horse is in a well-fed and looked after condition
• its hooves are in good condition (not too long or with sites of fractures, if the horse has horseshoes, they should fit)
• the horse has no injuries (to control this please observe the horse without saddle, often the animals have wounded backs, this is readily hidden with the saddle)
• what do saddle and bridle look like? – over here often saddles made out of wire frames, wrapped with dried sugar cane-/palm fibre are used, these provide no protection for the horses’ backs and are usually fastened with ropes that cut into the horses’ skin and flesh
• how tall is the horse? – often the horses are small, they can only carry a weight of up to 90kg
• check if the horse gets water – this is often disregarded over here
• does the horse have the possibility to stand in the shade, whilst waiting for its „work“?
Should just one of these points not be fulfilled, give the trip a miss and report to your travel agent. If everything is satisfactory in the point of animal welfare, then please consider refraining from a ride during the midday heat if possible, rather choose the cooler morning or afternoon hours. It will be much more pleasant for you as well.
Waterfall „El Limón“
Please don't book this trip with a horse. The way is very steep and holds a high risk of accidents.
Snakes / tarantulas / scorpions
Yes, they do exist – No, they are not poisonous! There are three very common species of snakes (though they are also threatened by extinction!)
• Culebra Verde – these are small, long, thin, green tree snakes.
• Boa Hispaniola – beautiful, rainbow-coloured constrictors – it is said they only get as long as 2 meters, but a specimen that has been living on our property (freely of course!!!) for years has now grown to a proud 3 meters. Maybe because the poor snakes usually get killed on sight, no specimen has yet managed to grow to its full size. We have many of these snakes on our property, because we tolerate them and there are no dangers for them. But they are so shy, that you really have to be lucky to catch a glimpse of them.
• Black groundsnake – not very big and very shy as well, often to be found under trees.
The local tarantulas are absolutely harmless. My husband stepped on one accidentally in the dark and got bitten by it – you cannot blame it – which wasn't any worse then a wasp sting.
Scorpions – most of the scorpions are not „real“ ones, they just reassemble the scorpion very much and are harmless as well.
Please leave the animals alone. They are more afraid of you than you are of them.
Departure to Europe with a Dominican dog or cat
Transport requires a long preparation time, because the dog has to be dewormed twice (in an interval of three weeks), then follows the vaccination against parvovirosis/canine distemper/hepatitis/kennel cough/leptospirosis with a so called 6-fold-combi-injection. This vaccination has to be repeated after three or six weeks (booster) to ensure that the vaccine protection is optimally built up. After that you have to wait at least three weeks to give the next injection against rabies. Soonest 30 days after the rabies injection can a blood sample be taken and this blood must be sent per air express post to a laboratory in Europe or the USA, that is accepted here and in Europe, to run the rabies-antibody-test. Till the results get in it usually takes another three to six weeks. If the test is negative, the whole procedure has to be repeated.
To take the dog to a foreign country the dog has to have an identification-chip implanted and in addition to the rabies-test it also needs a current health certificate from a local vet. So you have to calculate with about six months preparation time and the costs add up to about €1,000, additionally there is the purchase of a transport box (about €100) and the flight (prices vary depending on weight and air line, but about €150 to €350). Moreover the dog should be accommodated in a foster home during the preparation time, to stick to the vaccination plan and keep an eye on the dog, so that it doesn’t go missing in the end – costs for that are about €1.500. Since dogs are not allowed to enter Europe „unaccompanied“, the dog must either be picked up by its new owner or a flight attendant. Because an uncastrated female dog can whelp up to three times a year over here, she should urgently be castrated (otherwise no foster home will take her in!) - costs for that at a good vet to a „standard price“ are €100. That’s about €2,900 altogether.
Don’t get me wrong, every dog is unique and something very special – since I work together with these cute dogs every day, I know what „love on first sight“ means over here. Nevertheless we from the Asociación Amigos de Lucky could for example castrate about 35 female street/beach dogs for €2,900 and that way prevent an overpopulation in this country in the long run and enable those 100 female dogs to have a much better life in their natural surroundings. And don't you also think, that there are lots of great dogs in the animal shelters and foster homes in Germany, who should have a chance on a new life as well?
Furthermore the adaption to Germany is not easy for a Dominican dog. On the one hand the climate is totally different; on the other hand the Dominican dogs live very freely. They are very social and always have fellow species around them, they don't know about leash obligations and in the beginning they even panic at the prospect of having a collar tied around their necks. They are not familiar with being locked into a flat on their own because their owner has to go to work.
Information for tourists from Canada about the entry requirements can be obtained here.
Don't risk the animal's life by ignoring these procedures! If you leave the animal at the airport because it doesn't habe the necessary vaccination or papers it will be killed by the vet at the airport or abandoned in a place far away from it's natural environment. Often it has to be put in quarantine in ypur country and will then be send to Dominican Republic.
Photos with parrots and other animals
Again and again there are offers (at a dear price...) to have pictures of yourself taken with parrots and other animals. Please ignore them.
Whale Watching
The Hunchback Whales at the bay of Samana attract numerous tourists every year between January and March. It really is a breathtaking natural event to observe these peaceful colossuses. Please take care to make these trips with licened ships (specifically ask about it and let them show you the licence!). Rules have been estabished for the bay of Samana to ensure the protection of the whales. Thus at most one big and two little boats are allowed to be close to the whales at the same time. A minimum distance of 50 meters to a fully grown whale and a minimum distance of 80 meters to whale calves must be adhered to. An observation boat is not allowed to stay in a group of whales for longer than 30 minutes. The driving speed is not to pass 5 knots. Swimming with whales in not permitted (see Whale Samana). Please take care that your excursion boat abides these rules.
Lobsters / Crayfish
There is an official close season for lobsters/crayfish– between April and July it is forbidden to catch them or offer them for consumption. Many hotels/restaurants ignore the close season. Boycott this disregard and report to your travel agent! Inform other tourists about the close season, too.
Ocean World Adventure Park Cofresi/Puerto Plata
Forego a visit – such establishments don't need a comment.
Snorkeling and diving
Ecoconscious diving and snorkeling means behaving like a good guest in a strange flat: don’t break anything, don’t attack its inhabitants or disturb their lives in any way. Regulations about species and nature conservation should be holy to you as a diver/snorkler. Respect the life at and in the water: keep away from nesting sites as well as from resting places and spawning grounds.
Souvenirs
Unfortunately there are still souvenirs over here that go against the species conservation. Please inform yourself before your holidays about it e.g. http://www.artenschutz-online.de
Sea angling/Deep sea fishing
If you absolutely have to go sea angling, then please only catch as many fishes as you are going to eat. To catch fishes only as a „sport“ and to have pictures taken with the trophy is in no way compatible with animal welfare.
Please always remember, that the beautiful flora and fauna of the Dominican Republic should be protected. Restrain yourself in the sense of this protection and make other tourists aware of it, if they should offend against it (even if ignorantly). Our motto is: animal welfare in the Dominican Republic – for a better companionship between humans and animals!