The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahama animal shelter is being forced to put to sleep more than half of the animals being taken to the centre.

An influx of animals, the lack adoptions and an acute funding shortage has led to the crisis.

Tip Burrows, executive director of GB’s Humane Society, said the problem is getting worse as there is not enough space to humanely accommodate any more animals at the shelter on Coral Road.

“Since Dorian and the pandemic, it has just gotten worse because people are struggling,” she told The Tribune.

The shelter houses 105 dogs and 20 cats. That is only because 44 cats were sent out last week to rescue partners in the United States, said Ms Burrows, who is anticipating an increase in the next couple of weeks.

“Our funding has decreased, and we have not been able to hold fundraisers because of the pandemic, but the need for our services has increased and cannot provide the level of services that is needed right now for all these animals.”

 “Some days we might put ten or 12 to sleep, it depends on the circumstances. Looking at our euthanasia rate over the last six months to a year it had been staying below between 30 and 40 percent, and it has gone up over 50 percent.

 “So, when you look at us taking in 1,100 animals a year, it is now over 50 percent of that.”

 In terms of support HSGB receives half of their donations from abroad. The Grand Bahama Port Authority funds about 30 percent of its operating budget and the government seven percent.

 “When you think about it, we have to raise over $500,000 a year through our clinic, fundraisers, and through donations and it is difficult,” Ms Burrows explained.

 “We are not operating in the black, we are constantly operating at a loss, and we are still taking in the number of animals that we averaged for the last 10 years, which is averaged at 1,100 to 1,200 a year. That is all we can take in,” she said.

 If they respond to every animal they get called about or that people report, said Ms Burrow, their intake would probably double.

 “We can’t respond to every single call like we used to,” she said. “And people do not realize when we send animals to the States, we cannot just put any animal on a plane and send them away. It is a lot of work involved and choosing which animal gets to go, and rescuers often choose the ones that they want to take.”

 HSGB spends several hundred dollars per animal that is sent off for rescue, Ms Burrows reported.

 She noted that each animal must receive shots, wormers, and other preventative care to be able to travel. Also, the animal must be a certain age and must have paperwork.

 “Even If we had rescues willing to take all the animals we take in, there is no way we could afford to provide all of that for that many animals. So, we are having to make harder choices,” she said.

 Euthanasia is usually the last resort for shelters when all other options have been exhausted.

 Ms Burrows said the shelter is not overcrowded but has reached its capacity.

 “If we try to keep all the animals that come in, we would be (overcrowded) and we can’t afford for that to happen. We do not have enough staff and we cannot afford to hire more staff.

 “And we do not have enough space because there is a certain amount of space an animal needs to be housed humanely. We are not going to cram them in tiny cages for 23 hours a day to keep more animals. They don’t get adopted enough to make that justifiable,” she explained.

 In the meantime, HSGB said they continue to provide free spays and neuters.

 She said the campaign has helped but more funding and Vets are needed.

 “It is working with the limited amount we are able to do. We need more funding for that as well and we need more Vets.

 “We need to get our mobile clinic on the road. We can’t afford to supply it and we can’t spare our Vet to go out on the road because we will have no clinic revenue and that is what’s helping to keep our doors open.”

 “We are not in a position to hire another Vet financially, but that would be helpful if we can find an angel to sponsor the cost of a second Vet that can do massive spays and neuters. Everything boils down to money and people becoming more responsible.”

 Ms Burrows said that they do not have enough people reaching out or wanting to have it done. She said people can call the HSGB at 827-1477. “If people can afford to pay for the surgery that helps us continue to do more surgeries, but if they cannot we do not want that to be a prohibitive factor in them not getting their animals spayed, we will do it for free,” he said.

 “Another thing that I want to stress that is not happening is enforcement of laws relating to animals. That would go a long way if the government would make it a priority. There is a segment of people that will not do the right thing as far as taking care of their animals. If they never suffer any repercussions from that, it is just going to continue.”