The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

THE cancellation of Operation Potcake was the result of local veterinarians refusing to support foreign experts who had volunteered to spay and neuter stray animals, according to Agriculture Minister V Alfred Gray.

Speaking to The Tribune yesterday, following the government’s endorsement of the project, Mr Gray explained that the Christie administration was not responsible for scrapping the programme.

He said January’s Operation Potcake was needed in order to control the stray animal problem.

“It’s nothing to do with the government,” Mr Gray said. “It’s about the foreign vets not wanting to have a problem with the local vets who object. So I am going to meet with representatives from both sides as soon as it is possible to do so to see if I can iron out the programme. Because we do need that programme to continue.

“They (local vets) have not complained to me because we license them and we also license the foreign vets to come in and assist with the programme. So the fact that it has been cancelled is perhaps only because they do not want the foreigners to come in to assist.

“But they (local vets) are not volunteering to do anything either. So it seems to me that if they are objecting to the foreigners coming in to assist with the spay and neutering programme, they should pick up the slack and give something back to their country.”

On Monday,  Animal Balance – an international organisation – cautioned that the Bahamas’ stray animal problem might possibly never be resolved if government officials listen to local veterinarians.

In an open letter to Prime Minister Perry Christie, the group advised that Operation Potcake (OP)– which uses the expertise of volunteers specifically trained in high volume spays and neuters – cannot be shunned if the over population of dogs and cats is ever to be managed.

Emma Clifford, the founder of Animal Balance – which led last January’s inaugural OP programme – also reminded Mr Christie of his personal endorsement of their efforts.

She said: “Our collective strategy to combat the street dog problem was publicly endorsed by yourself and your government colleagues at a reception night which you kindly organised for us. You asked me personally if the foreign volunteers would return each year and I said ‘yes’, then you announced that message to the general public on film, which received a resounding cheer from the audience.”

However, following opposition from local vets to the inclusion of foreign volunteers – despite the admission that this would make it not nearly as effective – local organisers scrapped the project.

They said the vets’ counter-proposal of a shortened project of just three days and a charge of $50 per surgery would cost far too much and could not achieve enough in terms of results to be worth the trouble.