Welcome to Interview 1 of our new interview series. At least once a quarter, we will be interviewing people to bring to you what we hope you will find to be valuable, interesting information.
As a pet parent have you been feeling anxious about the recent surge of cane toad populations in western New Providence? I sure have. Knowledge is power and the more we know allows us to make educated decisions.
Baark! interviewed Dr. Valentino Grant from Caves Village Vet to learn more about cane toads and what we as pet parents can do to keep our pets safe. See below for contact information and bulleted highlights. Enjoy xoxox
Key Emergency Numbers:
Caves Village Vet Hospital – 327-8451 (after hours 456-8125)
Happy Pets Animal Clinic – 377-3647 (after hours 557-0911)
Bahamas National Trust – Scott: 432-9172
Ministry of Environment – 322-6005
Key take-homes from this interview:
- Symptoms – a lot of drooling, the face could be inflamed, eyes could be irritated, the rest of the body could show signs of irritation.
- Call Vet immediately – Rush your pet to the vet IMMEDIATELY – do not wait until morning.
- Go into the garden with your pet and keep an eye on them while they are outside or walk them on a leash if you see cane toads in your area.
- Strongly encourage pet parents to walk the perimeter of your garden 2x a day (morning and evening)
- Check on outdoor pets at least 4x per day
- Consider making your outdoor pet an indoor pet
- HUMANS need to be careful as well as they are poisonous to humans. People have lost their eyesight as a result.
- If you are comfortable put on a face shield and get a plastic bag and place cane toad in the freezer for 48 hours to kill it. This is considered the most humane way of killing cane toads.
- Call the Ministry of Environment or the Bahamas National Trust to report siting of cane toad
- DO NOT CHOP TOAD WITH A MACHETE
- DO NOT SPRINKLE SALT ON CANE TOAD – that is dangerous and inhumane
- Venetian West, Lyford Cay, Charlotteville, Old Fort Bay, and other Western neighborhoods are the areas seeing cane toads right now
- The cane toad is POISONOUS, not venomous and can SQUIRT their toxin if it feels threatened or touched
- The BNT and Department of Environmental Health send out teams and is rounding up the cane toads to keep population numbers down as best as possible.
