Harsher penalties for animal cruelty needed

Days after a man was reportedly involved in an incident where a dog drowned at a St Michael beach, an animal rights advocate is appealing to authorities to strengthen animal protection laws.

Monique Archer also wants the law courts to inflict harsher penalties on those found guilty of starving animals, treating them badly and in some cases, even killing them.

Archer, who specialises in horse welfare, has identified cruelty to animals as a major concern which should receive immediate attention from Government and other authorities.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, the trustee of the ten-year-old Human Organisation for the Relief of Suffering Equines (HORSE), a registered charity, which rescues and rehabilitates horses, said action must be taken to address the inhumane way animals are treated in Barbados, considering that visitors to the island are now questioning why it is being allowed to happen.

“What we have been dealing with in recent years is when the vets and volunteers turn up to rescue animals, people are willing to pull guns or knives on these people. It’s now getting to the stage where almost every time we have to take a police escort with us.

“And what people may not realise is that actually one of the most serious criminal offences in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act is if you threaten or try to prevent someone that is legally authorised to help in looking after animals and checking out these situations,” she said.

Police are continuing investigations into a viral video circulating online showing a dying dog on Pebbles Beach on Tuesday.

A man is said to be assisting police with the probe, but no charges have been laid.

One witness, Lavern Beresford, who was at the scene told Barbados TODAY that a man was seen ill treating the dog in the water, before dragging, then lifting the limp body of the animal onto the shore as persons on the beach pleaded with him.

Archer said she recently received a call regarding two horses being kept in poor condition, and when she and police officers responded to investigate the complaint, one of the animals had died and the other was “just bones”.

“Not all of them are serious abuse cases, in some cases it could be an injury that’s not being treated properly and someone sees it and they are concerned. We then bring our vets the information, they would go and inspect it, help the owner. Some are very dire, some have to be euthanized on the spot sadly because they are so critical.

“The last one that we got we managed to put it basically in a foster home to feed it and try and bring that horse back to good health. But it’s a big problem. In years of drought we can get 20 to 25 calls in a month easily when there is no water and it is fairly hot,” she said.

The equestrian who has competed on the international stage for Barbados said it is time policymakers review the need to strengthen animal cruelty laws which does not now give the law court the power to ban offenders from being able to own animals again.

She said there is also need for the courts to enforce the penalties in a meaningful way, and explained that she was left in shock when a person found guilty of starving horses and other animals on his property, was slapped with a minor fine, after a two-year court case.

“It’s a long tedious process, that’s a big challenge too. We need to speed up not just animal welfare cases, but all cases need to be worked on a lot more swiftly. After two years of prosecution, the gentleman was given a small fine which he paid on the spot and he walked away.

“We then know for a fact that he went on to re-offend but he found out that we were coming and the horse disappeared. I don’t know what happened to it, I can only guess. So there was no more evidence,” Archer said.

“We are appealing to the magistrates to treat these cases more seriously, because I think the police sometimes think that this is a waste of their time. They go through all of this, it is a lot of work to prosecute one of these cases, and then you get to the end, the person gets charged $1 000, they produce that, off they go and that’s the end of it. No wonder these things are happening with dogs, with horses, with all kinds of animals, over and over again.”

Archer said one of the trends her charity would like to see stopped is owners of retired race horses giving them away to young people who are unemployed and do not have access to the resources to feed and meet the general needs of the animals. She explained that it costs a minimum of $600 a month to properly care for one horse.

“We are appealing to horse owners to make better choices when they go to give away their horses. Make a responsible decision because that’s where the problem is starting.

Archer is also calling on the Ministry of Education to establish mandatory programmes in schools to teach children about animal rights and protection.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb