By Carlena Knight
“Stop animal abuse! Use your laws!”
This was the call of a group of animal lovers and members of the animal welfare group, Dogs and Cats of Antigua who gathered outside Parliament on Monday morning to raise awareness on the increasing number of cases of animal abuse and government’s lack of effort to enforce laws on perpetrators.
Observer reported on two such incidents earlier this month, including one in which a pet dog suffered terrible burns in an apparent acid attack and another where a dog’s face was sliced open with a cutlass.
They are all calling for an end to this abuse and for law enforcement to take action.
“The animal cruelty in Antigua is just so poor. It’s awful. I have been here almost two years and it’s so sad it makes me not want to stay here. I am actually working for a resort here and I could honestly tell you so many of the tourists that come don’t want to come back. They see so many awful things that it actually puts them off coming back for future trips. My own parents in England haven’t visited me in two years because they don’t want to see all of the abuse,” one protestor shared.
“You know, I am in love with this island; this island is beautiful but I would not want to be an animal here. I am not going to accuse everybody of animal abuse but we see poisoned dogs, sometimes 15 dogs at the same time. We see dogs cut up with cutlasses, we see dogs starving, mangy, even dogs that belong to supposed homes.
“There are laws against animal abuse in Antigua and Barbuda but unfortunately, they don’t seem to be upheld, they are not applied. So, I think one of the reasons that today we are here is to actually encourage the government to take action and apply the laws and make the people who abuse these animals, whoever they are, and punish them,” another protestor mentioned.
Chapter 6 of the Act which speaks to Animal Welfare and Stray Animals prohibits the maltreatment of animals and states that “no person shall torture, beat, injure, mutilate, neglect or treat with cruelty or overload an animal”.
Some even travelled from the US to join the cause which they say is of utmost importance as animals have feelings and rights too.
“The people here are beautiful, they have good souls. It’s the most beautiful island in the world and people love coming here, but tourists have stopped coming which is going to hurt the economy because of the animal abuse. I know this country can do better.
“There’re so many third world countries out there that have figured out a way to take care of their animals. Antigua is one of the worst Caribbean islands I have ever gone to when it comes to animal abuse. They don’t care. They treat them like rats. People chain their dogs for protection and don’t feed them or water them, and of course, there are the big dog fighting rings that everybody knows about but nothing is being done,” said the protestor.
One member of the Board of Directors for Dogs and Cats of Antigua, Mary Harris, was adamant that there must be a better solution than the killing and abandoning of animals across the island.
Harris, who does a lot of the veterinarian work for the group, revealed that she has had to deal with an alarming number of cases of dog poisoning and abandonment.
She mentioned that on several occasions they have had to rescue dogs from hostile environments.
In an effort to further advocate for the enforcement of the local laws, the group launched a petition on change.org and are asking people to sign it.
It will be presented to Prime Minister Gaston Browne in an attempt to move the discussion forward to enforce both animal protection laws and those that seek to prosecute the abusers.
Minister Samantha Marshall, under whose portfolio animal welfare falls, recently pledged to crack down on animal abuse, promising a “significant investment” to that end.