Tourists can also encourage local hotels, resorts, restaurants, and tour operators to help publicize a local animal welfare group by displaying brochures or donation boxes in their businesses.

There are many other ways that tourism companies can help improve animal welfare. Some Caribbean hotels donate rooms to visiting veterinarians who donate their time to help local animal welfare groups. Some restaurants on Caribbean islands donate food for fundraising events for Caribbean animal welfare groups. Other tourism companies donate items for raffles, serve on board of animal welfare groups, or provide support in a myriad of other ways to improve animal welfare in the Caribbean.

The Pegasus Foundation, a private non-profit foundation that supports animal welfare programs throughout the Caribbean, has launched a project to garner more support for animal welfare from the Caribbean tourism industry. Caribbean Animal Tourism Support is a project of the Pegasus Foundation's Caribbean Animal Welfare Initiative. The goal of Caribbean Animal Tourism Support (CATS) is to encourage the Caribbean tourism industry to support animal welfare. Since so many tourists to the Caribbean say they love animals, and since animal-loving tourists often report discomfort with seeing hungry, homeless, sick or injured animals on their Caribbean vacations, the tourism industry can benefit directly by improving animal welfare in the Caribbean. Improved tourism experiences for Caribbean visitors will lead to a greater number of tourists spending more money.

To read more about the Pegasus Foundation, the Caribbean Animal Welfare Initiative and Caribbean Animal Tourism Support, visit these Web sites:
www.PegasusFoundation.org
www.CaribbeanAnimalWelfare.org

More information can also be obtained by sending an E-mail to CaribbeanAnimalWelfare@pegasusfoundation.org