Today is day #23 -Caye Caulker-Belize. This morning we were riding our bikes around the island and stopped when we saw a little sign that read "Kenny the Cat Man" and one below it saying "Animal Rescue and Adoption". We stood at the gate talking to the dogs and cats who greeted us and waited until Kenny came out, we introduced ourselves and asked about the possibility of helping out. Kenny explained that he has been rescuing dogs and cats for over ten years here on the island. Kenny has no funding and has been feeding and caring for the animals with the money he makes from a small bicycle repair shop run out of the same yard. Kenny told us he has 28 cats and 5 dogs, he said to come back in two hours, that we could help with washing dogs. When we arrived Kenny had prepared a place for us to wash the dogs on an old board spread across the sand, he filled 2 five gallon buckets up with water. He handed us a bar of medicated soap, a small brown comb and a pair of tweezers. Our first dog to wash was a little shaggy haired dog named Vicious. She was one of the sweetest dogs I've ever met however the poor thing was covered in fleas when we applied the medicated soap, it instantly killed the fleas and eggs on her body. We washed at least 150 fleas from her and hand picked 50 with the pair of tweezers. When we were done, she was so happy! The next dog was "Brownie". She looked like she was in heaven as Ava and I dumped water on her and my mom lathered soap. While we bathed her, she squeezed her head in between moms legs with her eyes closed like she was in paradise. Then we washed "Chida"she was a small white dog that loved to be pet. She was the easiest to wash because her hair was coarse and not matted. Dog #4 was "Roxy" and she has fur like no other dog I've ever encountered, when washing her, the water would roll off of her like a duck. Our last dog to wash was "Maya" and she is DEATHLY afraid of water. She took about 30 minutes to wash because as soon as we put a single drop of water on her she would try to dart. Because she is so hard to wash she was extra infested with fleas and we had to do some serious scrubbing. The way the medicated soap works, is it explodes fleas and their eggs on contact so washing Maya was a little gross because it turned the suds red from the blood of the exploded bugs. When we finished all the dogs seemed very happy and layed on a cement slab in the sun. We told Kenny we would be his helpers for the days we are here on the island, he invited us to bathe them again next week and to stop by anytime as there is always something to do:-) Tommarow we will stop by with some treats. -Eli