Pet-ventures in Jacksonville

In two days it will be Halloween.  Originally we had been planning on celebrating the holiday in the Dominican Republic, but instead we are in lovely Jacksonville. Apart from the rowdy football fans visiting us in the middle of the night, it has not been that bad. We happened to arrive in the days preceding the big Gators versus Bulldogs game.

It was cool watching the whole city prepare days before the event that would only last a few hours. On game day, however, instead of going to watch the kick off on the Jumbotron outside the stadium, a few of us, accompanied by the ship's engineer Matt, decided to go to the local animal shelter instead.

We had not planned to, but after wrestling some alligators and contemplating train surfing to Montreal, we  discovered a sign pointing us in the direction of a pet adoption center. Overwhelmed by the temptation of puppies and kittens, we set out blindly in the streets of Jacksonville. Before entering the shelter, we devised a devious plan. We would say we were from a school, looking for a dog to live in our dorm, so perhaps we would be allowed to play with the dogs.

The plan turned out to be unneeded, however, as we were allowed to walk right in. The first thing I noticed about the shelter was that almost every dog there was a pit bull. The had so many that they had to start putting some down to make room for more. This saddened me because all of the dogs we met there were so nice and people still go to pet shops to spend hundreds of dollars on puppies.

Despite this, we all had a great time. After playing with the dogs and cats, we found a little restaurant, which was amazing. Overall, it was a wonderful day, providing a break from traveling in a large group and allowing me to enjoy different activities than some of my peers.

-Grace