Bahamas News
How COVID-19 affects your pet’s daily routine – Pet Food Institute offers tips
#TheBahamas – April 27, 2020 — Over the last few months, no single event has had more of a global impact than COVID-19. The novel coronavirus has reached pandemic status. In an effort to curb the transmission of the highly contagious disease, governments have urged social distancing practices to eradicate its spread. Curfews are commonplace, closed signs in shop windows are the new temporary norm, and worldwide, people have experienced a shift in their lifestyles. For many, the change in daily habits that includes spending more time at home has affected their furry four-legged companions.
While that extra time may appear to be the cat’s meow, it can zap the excitement that comes with a daily routine of meal time rituals, greetings at the end of a work day and a walk in the park meeting up with other dogs and the folks they bring along.
Washington D.C.- based Pet Food Institute sheds light on the COVID-19 issues impacting pets and offers tips to keep both families and pats safe while entertained.
Here are a few modifications you can make:
- Practice good hygiene – It’s important for your pet and for you. Just as you would wash your hands with soap and warm water for 20 seconds when returning from the store or throughout the day, make sure to do the same after handling pets.
- Ensure adequate amount of pet supplies – Whether food, water, grooming supplies or medication, ensure that your pet is covered in the event of an emergency. Supplies should last for a minimum of two weeks.
- Play, eat, sleep, repeat – Establishing a schedule can be helpful for both you and your pet. You can hide treats around your home, practice new commands, or play fetch. Stimulating your pet’s mental and physical exercise is important.
- Create a plan – You should always have a plan for pet care in the case of a medical emergency, including having your pet’s veterinary information written down and a trusted family member, friend or pet sitter who can care for your pet. That plan could include a sufficient amount of pet food and any medications or supplements your pet is on. The more detailed the plan, the less stress you will experience.
As every country has its own regulations and timelines for recovery, Pet Food Institute encourages persons to utilize these steps during this time of uncertainty.
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) reminds that “At this point in time, there is also no evidence that domestic animals, including pets and livestock, can spread COVID-19 to people.” Enjoy the emotional benefits that pets can bring to our lives during these times of stress, and always have an emergency care plan in place.
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TheBahamas, March 17, 2023 – The FBI is investigating a woman’s ‘suspicious’ death on a Carnival Cruise ship in February. The unnamed woman and her husband boarded the Carnival Sunshine on February 27th, for a trip to the Bahamas, but she was dead before they arrived in the port in The Bahamas. 
The FBI said Carnival’s team had administered life saving measures when the woman was reported unresponsive, but they were unsuccessful. The body and the woman’s husband were released to the Bahamian authorities when the cruise arrived in the country.
In a statement shared with US media houses, Carnival Cruises claimed the death has been a natural one. The Nassau Guardian said a source told them the police findings had concurred with that assessment saying it was a “normal sudden death of a tourist who wasn’t feeling well.”
The FBI was waiting for the cruise and when it got back to South Carolina on March 4th, they immediately boarded and began to investigate the room based on ‘evidence of a crime.’ The FBI also searched the couple’s car.
No updates have been shared to contradict the currently established cause of death.
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TheBahamas, March 17, 2023 – “If you don’t like it, go to another beach!” Is what Aaron John, an Education Officer from The Bahamas National Trust jokingly tells our news team about sargassum blooms; his quip, motivated by the necessity of nature when pit against the notion that there is a real threat when the stinky seaweed makes its annual appearance.
John can admit, he says, that Sargassum isn’t very pretty but life isn’t all about aesthetics and in this instance that ugly patch serves a purpose.
“We love our sandy beaches, but in order to keep them we need Sargassum. When storms come, they wash away all the sand off the beach but sargassum acts as a mulch to protect the sand from water erosion. It doesn’t look good, it
doesn’t feel good but we need it.”
He said it also provides a habitat for small crustaceans, crabs, and insects that are all necessary to our ecosystem and islanders have found use for the weed.
“Historically, (in The Bahamas) we have been using sargassum as fertilizer, especially in the family Islands as far back as I know,” he said. “Birds don’t go on the beach unless there is Sargassum and what do they do? they feed – it’s beautiful.”
He encouraged residents to just leave it be if they came across it.
Sargassum isn’t harmful to humans, except for people with respiratory issues who may find the rotten egg smell triggers asthma. Despite this, it’s not advisable to walk through the weeds which may hide sharp rocks and bottles or vulnerable animals.
Experts say Sargassum blooms began to increase in size around 2011 and have continued to get bigger and bigger since. This year‘s bloom is around 5000 miles long and 300 miles wide and visible from space.
“I know it’s not a general outlook, but I would like to change the perspective on sargassum,” John said, pointing out The Bahamas National Trust is actively working to decrease alarm over the less worrisome events like sargassum as it raises the profile on the environmentally devastating.
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, March 17, 2023 – The Turks and Caicos’ Bahamas Diaspora Office is moving closer and closer to opening day, following the Cabinet’s approval for the signing of a lease agreement.
The lease will be signed with FINCEN ltd in the Bahamas. Several weeks ago, Arlington Musgrove, Minister of Immigration confirmed to our news team that the location had been found and was being finalized; now a lease is
approved at the Cabinet level.
The interest in the TCI from TC Bahamians was evident in the diaspora meetings held in early February. The two meetings held in Nassau and Grand Bahama were completely full and over-subscribed by hundreds.
It’s interest which the Government hopes will translate to real life population growth, bolstering the local population before the native population ‘goes extinct’.
The Opposition PDM is on the record with what it feels is a far more viable solution to a dwindling native population; seek out the country’s own citizens and bring them back home.
Cabinet did not state when the office will open.
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