How oneman isdealingwithstrays

THE EDITOR: I witnessed a distressing scene in Scarborough on Monday.

Standing by the old TSTT office on Wilson Road, I observed a man with a long rope tied at one end to a small female dog. She was in heat and I learned his intention was for her to attract male dogs, which he would capture with another long lead he had with him.

The captured dogs would later be let loose with his eight pit bulls.

The reason? Stray dogs are killing his sheep.

I asked the man why doesn’t he instead drop off the dogs at the TTSPCA shelter. His reply was that they charge for “relinguishing dogs.”

This is a cruel practice. Why do the police allow this to happen?

If the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) would give a grant to the TTSPCA to spay and neuter dogs we would not have strays on the island. Or the THA could arrange for owners of dogs who cannot afford the cost of spaying and neutering to collect a voucher that would allow them to have the operation done at the shelter. The TTSPCA is an NGO with no government funding and depends solely on fund-raising.

Tourists do not wish to see neglected animals on beaches and on the streets and in the rain forest where a lot of dogs are dumped.

A few years of co-operation between the TTSPCA, the shelter and the THA would solve the problem.

MARY SOODEEN

via e-mail

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"How oneman isdealingwithstrays"

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