By Shamar Blunt
Dog lovers from all walks of life enjoyed a sunny Saturday out with their furry friends, as Action for Animals Barbados, in association with the Animal Control Centre, hosted their Paws for Health day at Massy Farm and Garden, Exmouth Gap, Brandons, St Michael.
Throughout the day, dog owners were treated to multiple demonstrations from other experienced dog trainers, health tests for their pets, and other booths provided critical information that can be utilised to raise their animals in a healthy manner.
Gail Hunte, Trustee for Action for Animals Barbados
During the event’s debut, Gail Hunte, Trustee for Action for Animals Barbados, told Barbados TODAY that it was hoped that the weekend event will help demystify a lot of the misunderstanding about viruses and other health difficulties that dogs can experience.
“At the moment, there are still a lot of myths surrounding vaccines in general when it comes to animals, so you would find that people would be doing things themselves. I know of one case where somebody gave their dog clorox to kill the parvovirus, and it killed the dog. So when we do these kinds of health awareness events, it allows people to come and learn the facts about the parvovirus, how it can impact dogs, and what they can do to prevent it,” she said.
Hunte added: “As you can see, the turnout has been really well, so we are hoping it’s going to be the first of many. We had not done anything for quite a few years in terms of an event like this. Most of the work we have been [doing] has been mainly dealing with our advocacy.”
Allison Caddle, Animal Control Officer with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Animal Control Centre
Allison Caddle, Animal Control Officer with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Animal Control Centre, also spoke to Barbados TODAY during the showcase, noting that while Animal Control Centre officials were primarily there to license dogs during the day, the entity had seen a welcome increase in dog licensing in recent months.
“We have an increase in dog licensing from day to day, and kennel licensing has also increased. Six months and up all dogs should be [licensed] primarily, but if they come by five months we would [also] accept them.”
