A year-old volunteer group on Ambergris Caye is betting that the best way to fix the island's stray dog and wildlife problems is through its children. On September 16th, San Pedro Pet Outreach ran a training day at Castaway Resort for more than 20 volunteer teachers, prepping them for an eight-month animal welfare curriculum that starts October 3rd in three local elementary schools: New Horizons, Holy Cross, and Isla Bonita.
Roughly 200 students will get one class a month through May 2027, led by volunteers armed with scripts, handouts and hand puppets of pets and local wildlife. The lessons cover practical ground: responsible pet ownership, why spaying and neutering matters, beach cleanups, and how to stay safe around unfamiliar strays without hurting them. Materials were put together with help from two established island organisations, SAGA Humane Society and ACES Wildlife Rescue, and co-founder Glen Sharer-Cloatre built the curriculum with input from both.
The group itself is new. It formed in September 2025 after its founders saw that SAGA and other welfare organisations were overloaded, and decided the gap was in community education rather than rescue work. It has run on its own money so far and is applying for formal NGO status. Co-founder Leslie Ursel puts it simply: education comes first, and children need to learn early that animals feel pain and fear. The group also wants to tackle practical barriers, like transport, that stop families from reaching vets.
The theory of change is a household ripple. As Sharer-Cloatre framed it, if even five students go home and repeat what they learned to their parents, those parents might change how they treat animals too. Graduates of the first cohort will be badged as 'Safety Rangers', and the long-term goal is a repeatable program that outlives this school year.
Why should a visitor care? Anyone who has walked San Pedro's beach paths knows the island's free-roaming dogs and the ongoing tensions between pets, wildlife and tourism. Programs like this shape how the next generation of locals treats animals, which matters to travellers who dive, snorkel or simply share the boardwalks with the island's four-legged residents. It is also a signal for anyone considering volunteer travel on Ambergris Caye — there are grassroots outfits here doing hands-on work, and they tend to welcome extra help, especially once NGO approval comes through. For now, the monthly classes run through May 2027, and the group is looking for continued community involvement to keep them going.
