Abandoned

Pet owners unable to afford cost of taking care of animals 

By Jenique Belgrave

The rising cost of living has resulted in a significant number of dog and cat owners abandoning their pets.

Managers of animal charities who expressed that concern to Barbados TODAY reported that while their facilities were already filled to capacity, calls were still pouring in daily from people who did not have enough money to take care of their pets.

Manager of the Ark Animal Welfare Society Dominique Maraj said many people have been contacting that organisation to explain that they could no longer afford to feed their pets, especially as animal food was getting more expensive.

“The calls are a lot more where persons say ‘I have a dog to give up’ or ‘I am no longer able to care for my dog’ or ‘I have found an abandoned dog’,” she said, adding that the waiting list for animals to be accepted into the shelter continued to grow, even as its 20 kennels remained full and adoptions were on the decline.

Director of Ocean Acres Animal Sanctuary Karen Whittaker reported a similar situation.

“We are seeing lots of dogs daily and all the time. There are dogs that are loose and those that have been abandoned. My phone is constantly full of messages because they have either found a dog and do not know what to do with it, or they cannot keep their dogs because they cannot afford them, or they are moving house and cannot take them, and there is nowhere for the animals to go as every single shelter is full,” she stated.

However, manager of the Barbados Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Charmaine Hatcher said she did not believe the number of abandoned pets was any higher but that the use of social media has made the situation more visible to the public.

“It is not abnormal. It’s just that it is highlighted more by people taking pictures of them and putting them up on social media. Yes, a lot of dogs are roaming quite freely abandoned but the numbers are not horrendous by any form or fashion,” she contended.

She acknowledged, nevertheless, that with more people moving to accommodation more suitable for their budgets due to the hike in the cost of living, they were abandoning their animals as some landlords placed restrictions on their properties, and they had no one else to take their pets as shelters were full.

“You have to go according to the word of the landlords and landladies because a lot of animals do destroy things and will bite up fencing and other areas, and landlords are not keen for this to happen,” Hatcher said.

Maraj agreed, lamenting, “This is a big problem on the island because when they are looking to move and to take their beloved pet with them, they are not able to find a place that allows them to keep their animals.”

The animal enthusiasts pointed out, however, that not all dogs on the roads were abandoned, as some had escaped from home while others were allowed by their owners to roam, especially at night.

The latter practice, Hatcher said, was a cause of concern.

“There are some people when they come home from work, they automatically let out their animals and they will tell you ‘oh it just went to stretch its legs’, and they let them out not knowing where they have gone to and what trouble they have gotten into. This has been common in Barbados for years,” she said.

The animal activists urged pet owners to stop that habit, explaining that it was helping to drive up the number of strays, as many of the dogs and cats let out were not spayed or neutered.

“The roaming dogs impregnate all the other dogs and make loads of puppies, so over time it will get worse because all those dogs that people just allow to roam are not just going out for little walks but are mating, and daily we get calls with people saying a stray dog had puppies under their house. Letting dogs roam is not an option!” Whittaker insisted.

Hatcher also identified re-homing as an issue, noting that the RSPCA had to build additional kennels to house the animals being brought in. It is currently housing more than 130 adult dogs and puppies and over 75 adult cats and kittens.

“We had a stray dog problem back in the 80s and 90s…. Now that we have the stray dog problem under control, the cats are just breeding out of control, and a lot of them are very feral. There are a lot of companies now which do trapping, and these are sought out by persons who have cats invading their home space by coming into houses and stealing food and dirtying homes. It is also happening in hotel spaces and guest houses,” Hatcher said, noting that these animals often had to be put down as they could not be adopted due to their wild behaviour.

Whittaker suggested that to address the situation, the Government should start a widespread education campaign to reduce the inhumane practices of some pet owners.

“Without this, our advice and suggestions tend to fall on deaf ears because it is seen as the way persons have always done things so they think it is okay,” she said.

“People think tying up a dog all day and waiting until it dies miserable and alone is okay. It is not okay!” the animal sanctuary director asserted. “What we have now is a culture that normalises the bad treatment of animals, and children see this and are desensitised. We need to change that so that we have a culture in which having your pet spayed and neutered is the right thing to do.”

Whittaker noted that while many people refused to spay or neuter their pets, believing it to be “unnatural”, this was the only way to keep down the number of unwanted animals.

jeniquebelgrave@barbadostoday.bb