The Tribune

By DANA SMITH dsmith@tribunemedia.net MEMBERS of the Bahamas Vets Association met last night to discuss a mass spay and neuter project that could affect upwards to 2,000 stray animals in the Bahamas. Project Potcake would be organised in conjunction with Animal Balance, an American non-profit group that would send its own vets to perform the operations, free of charge. According to animal rights activists, the project can only start pending confirmation from the Ministry of Agriculture which will probably rely heavily on consultation from the Vets Association. Members of the association acknowledged a stray problem to The Tribune, but revealed that they still have some have "reservations" about Project Potcake. Association president, Peter Bizzell, spoke prior to last night's meeting and said association members will make a "fresh assessment" of the stray problem, how Project Potcake could possibly help, and how the project would fit in with current spay and neuter programmes. "The idea is to address it collectively and that's what we are going to do," Dr Bizzell said. "All our members who are practising are doing (spays and neuters) on an ongoing basis, (Project Potcake) is interesting, it's great, but it has to be done in a way that doesn't interfere with what's going on, already. "What we're trying to do is develop a consensus and a win-win situation for everybody." Basil Sands, an association member, had sentiments similar to Dr Bizzell's. "I'm for a mass spay - neutering but I have some reservations," he said. "On the islands, we have some unemployed or underemployed vets and to bring in foreign vets, I don't think it's politically expedient. We have Bahamian vets that are unemployed who could do the same thing." Speaking with The Tribune last week, Lissa McCombe, Bahamas Humane Society board member, said she is "very excited" about the possibility that Project Potcake could start in the Bahamas. "It's going to be 20 vets coming in for four days and they are paying their own way here. The only thing we need to do is raise money for supplies," she said. "It's going to make an immediate and significant difference in the amount of unwanted animals, therefore making the burden on the Humane Society and other animal groups a lot lighter. "There's only two groups that have to sign off on it, the Minister of Agriculture - who has been very positive - and the Vets Association. The project really hangs in the balance of whether the Vets Association votes for or against it." Laura Kimble, chairman of the Bahamas Alliance for Animal Rights and Kindness (Baark!), is another supporter of Project Potcake. "We go around and we'll spend a Saturday picking up dogs in the community, but there's only so much we can do as volunteers," she said. "Maybe 500 to 1,000 animals over the course of a year, at best. With this project, we can do 2,000 strays in one week." The project will get Baark "over that little hump so we can really start decreasing the number," Ms Kimble said. "It's an incredible amount of time and work that Baark has to do, and we're so excited that this project could knock out a big part of that," she said.