By JADE RUSSELL
Tribune Staff Reporter
jrussell@tribunemedia.net
A BAHAMAS Alliance for Animal Rights and Kindness (BAARK) leader is urging the government to enforce laws against animal cruelty and breeding, saying the problem is worsening.
BAARK chairman Laura Kimble said some residents are breeding dogs in horrible conditions to make easy money, calling the suffering some animals experience “insane”.
“People have beaten dogs to death with baseball bats,” she said. “People chop them with machetes all the time because they’re angry. They abuse these animals. But it’s also worse because of the way they keep them. They keep them locked in boxes or on chains with no shade, short chains, no water. They’re starving on a chain,” she said.
A day after Bahamas Humane Society President Kim Aranha said tourists complain about the stray animal population in the country, Ms Kimble said visitors have no idea how badly animals are treated.
She said the Animal Protection and Control Act has all the provisions to deal with cruelty and breeding.
“The laws have to actually be enforced against animal cruelty,” she said. “So many people breed their animals. And the suffering is ridiculous. And we can only do what we can, but there’s very few volunteers working, and we’re all exhausted.”
Comments
trueBahamian 8 months, 2 weeks ago
Just another issue to add to all the others. No one does their job. People can't take proper care of kids. It's no surprise that animals are not treated properly. In addition to the call for enforcement of animal cruelty laws, there needs to be a focus on people with dogs allowing them to just roam about terrorizing people. Also, people walking their dogs, very dangerous ones, without muzzles while having them on a leash but they are struggling to control. Often it looks like the dog is walking the owner rather than the other way around. Also, sometimes kids are walking very large dogs (Pitbulls, etc.) with no adults in sight. The dog is pretty much dragging the kid along. Extremely dangerous for others walking or jogging by.
mandela 8 months, 2 weeks ago
What about the stray dog population with no owners, Ms. Aranha and Ms. Kimble, non stop breeding, and being a danger and nuisance, and barking all night interrupting persons night sleep who have to go to work that morning? What are being done in these situations?
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