The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Humane Society has announced it is currently unable to accept stray or owner surrendered animals.

This will continue to be the case until BHS is able to find homes for the animals it now has leaving additional room to accommodate new intake.

This decision was in direct response to the safety and well-being of both animals and staff being jeopardised, due to the shelter’s capacity substantially exceeding their resources.

Kim Aranha, president of BHS, explained yesterday that the organisation has faced this issue before, however this time it is even more serious.

One of the main issues facing BHS is residents not spaying or neutering their pets.

“People are just bringing in animals and surrendering them,” she said.

“They are not getting their female dogs spayed, so they’ll bring in a box of 14 puppies that they don’t want, but that could have been avoided had they had their dogs spayed.”

Ms Aranha urged locals to get their animals spayed and neutered and referred to the free service courtesy of Baark.

“In The Bahamas people are not very good to animals so why would they feel that their dogs - who they don’t care about - should have the experience of being a mother. If you are not worried about your dog having shade or water, why would you worry about her experiencing the joys of motherhood,” she said.

 “What people need to start doing is having their animals spayed and neutered.”

 As a non-profit organization, BHS has been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as there has been a decreasing change in adoptions.

 BHS encourages people to adopt rather than shop as there are hundreds of puppies, kittens, cats and dogs available.

 “Adoption - we desperately need people to adopt rather than shop,” Ms Aranha insisted.

 “We started having pop-up adoptions around the island of New Providence, as we found that some people found it almost overwhelming to come down to a shelter with so many hundreds of animals.”

 BHS is hosting a pop-up at Super Value, Cable Beach, this Saturday and will showcase about 12 puppies and dogs.

 Aside from adoption, BHS is also seeking monetary donations and supplies to take care of the animals and volunteers.