The Tribune

IT IS said that you can judge a society by how it treats its animals. If that is so, the Bahamas would be judged harshly.

This is a nation trapped in the past in many ways, in fear of immigration and anyone foreign, in denying the obvious that tax breaks incentivise economic growth, in believing that the public will blindly follow whatever medicine the government of the day prescribes.

But as resistance to blind obedience grows along with the demand for respect for human rights, there is one area in which far too little attention is being focused - how we treat our animals.

The treatment of animals is nothing to be taken lightly, not only for its intrinsic righteousness but for its economic impact. In the age of social media, photos of animal cruelty circulate faster than a juicy rumour. When a Surrey horse carrying tourists collapsed and died on the street in downtown Nassau in 2012, images and shock waves went viral in minutes. It is foolhardy to think people do not care.

By mid-morning yesterday, a column that appeared in The Tribune by Bahamas Humane Society President Kim Aranha, questioning whether Surrey horses were really a part of Bahamian culture, drew dozens of comments. In fact, it aroused more interest more immediately than many of the breaking hard news stories that we cover.

Animals cannot speak for themselves. Their silence keeps them unwitting, humble servants.

Who speaks for the Surrey horse forced to breathe in the diesel fumes of jitney buses or withstand the whipping of a driver who wants that horse to keep moving when he can hardly lift his head?

Who speaks for the Surrey horse whose shoes are worn and yet he must walk the hot streets?

Where is the police officer who is supposed to stop the driver who violates the brief rest time required?

Do all the new officers know of the regulations and the different hours according to season?

Who speaks for the Surrey horse forced to carry a load of 400 pounds of passengers and driver?

It is true that government funds are being provided for better food and that the horses continue to be inspected, that there are fewer incidences of yanking the shoes off one horse to nail onto another, and then back again at great pain just to pass inspection.

These are living, breathing beings. They feel pain. They wince to no effect. They cry and no one hears them. They suffer in silence until they die. And then what? Then another horse comes in because why? “It is part of Bahamian culture?”

So was slavery and when that was recognised for the horror it was, it ended.

The renewed focus on Surrey horses comes only days after several of the famed swimming pigs of Exuma were found dead. No one is saying yet what caused the deaths or whether they were deliberate or accidental. What we do know is that it was only two years ago that the swimming pigs made a huge splash and became a boon to Exuma tourism. Thousands have visited and photographed the unlikely tourist attraction since. Several people we reached out to who are familiar with the situation believe the deaths were bound to happen.

The pigs were eating leftover food that could have been spoiled in the hot sun. They may have run out of fresh water given the lack of rain.

No one was fully in charge of monitoring or managing their health and a company that voluntarily brought in a vet to look at them was told to mind its own business.

This animal cruelty for commercial gain must stop.

Fortunately, there is evidence of improved care for domestic pets thanks to organisations and good souls dedicated to educating about proper nutrition, spaying and neutering and regular veterinary care.

We notice their efforts and we applaud them.

Yet our hearts break for those animals whose very presence or physical strength makes them enslaved beasts of economic burden, unpaid accidental contributors to a local economy.

It is only when the tragic happens and headlines scream the tragedy that the public reacts in shock as if they had not seen this coming for a long time.

And for anyone who thinks speaking out against animal cruelty is something new, we call your attention to the Bible, where man is warned against treating the animals in God’s kingdom with anything less than they treat one another.

Throughout the Bible, kindness to animals is pervasive - in Proverbs, Psalms, Isaiah, Genesis, Luke, Ecclesiastes, Deuteronomy.

And even in Exodus, man was given a seventh day to rest so the animals could rest, too.