Owners who do not take care of their dogs contribute to roaming dogs, a term used to refer to “stray dogs” in the Bahamas, and this is a problem that continues to linger and affects society in different ways, according to Dr Jeffery Lyn, senior veterinarian officer at the Ministry of Agriculture.
“They are not stray [dogs] in the true sense; they are owned dogs that are not restrained properly,” Dr. Lyn said.
He said that because they are allowed to roam around dogs get into all kinds of mischief, like pulling down people’s garbage, spreading it all over people’s yards or on the road, biting people and lingering around people’s businesses.
“People should not have to be picking up their garbage out of the road way because dog owners do not restrain them,” Dr. Lyn said.
William Fielding, a lecturer at the College of The Bahamas involved in social research, told The Bahama Journal that the vast majority of dogs on the streets have a home to go to.
“About 40 percent of the people who care for dogs do not confine them so they get access to the street and go off for a walk by themselves,” Mr. Fielding said. “We have a duty to care for them because they are animals which we have invited into our home.”
Dr. Lyn, meanwhile, noted that dogs can spread diseases. For example, he said Toxocara Canis, a common roundworm of dogs, can be spread through dog bites and can cause blindness in small children.
“Dogs can also kill people,” Dr. Lyn noted.
It’s why he and Mr. Fielding both support measures to make animal owners more accountable.
In the Speech from the Throne read by Governor General A. D. Hanna in February, the government promised that in this session of parliament, the Animal Control act will be amended to create greater responsibility and accountability of animal owners.
Dr. Lyn said a committee, including personnel from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, veterinarians, persons from private organizations such as the Bahamas Humane Society, the Kennel Club and Proud Paws, is helping to draft amendments to the Act.
Mr. Fielding said amending the Act would be an important step in helping to address the stray dogs problem on New Providence.
“If we could make sure that all the dogs are confined and make sure that the law is enforced then that would be a big step forward in helping people act better toward the dogs,” Mr. Fielding said.
He said that tourism is affected by this problem, but he admitted that his research showed that the stray dogs problem may not be having as great an impact as some may think.
In his study, 45 percent of tourists surveyed said they remembered seeing roaming dogs during their stay and about one percent said they got upset.
But Mr. Fielding told The Journal, “That one percent is more significant than it looks.”
This is the case, he indicated, because tourists on average tell 15 people about their visit.
Mr. Fielding noted that one visitor who was a radio announcer at a college in the United States said he would be telling almost 30,000 listeners about the stray dog problem in the Bahamas.
The stray dogs issue caused the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to launch a campaign against the Bahamas, telling the world that Bahamians do not generally care for their animals.
Although Mr. Fielding believes the campaign was unjustified, he said it showed the power these organizations have in “stirring up trouble”.
“It is very important to realize that we are not alone in suffering from this [problem],” he added. “All Caribbean countries suffer from pet overpopulation.”
By: Ian-Marie Darville, The Bahama Journal
