At least four dogs were poisoned over the holiday period, including two that had to be put down on Christmas day.
The disturbing Cayman Islands holiday trend of laying out bait laced with the deadly herbicide Paraquat continued over the past week, with the four reported incidents adding to three poisonings from earlier in December.
Jason Jairam of the Cayman Islands Humane Society said he was called out on Christmas Day by a concerned pet owner in George Town whose dogs had been sick for several days.
“They were in a really bad condition, panting, breathing heavily. It was clearly Paraquat and it was too late to save them. It was really tough to see those dogs in that condition.”
Island Vets reported two further incidents in Savannah in the week before Christmas.
Mr. Jairam said the incidents always increased around holidays when people became frustrated with the nuisance factor of roaming dogs and took the law into their own hands.
“It is not right for people to poison animals. It has been going on for so long and nothing ever seems to get done about it.”
He urged anyone whose dog showed signs of poisoning, which include heavy panting and loss of appetite, to contact the vets quickly.
Other symptoms of severe poisoning are vomiting and diarrhea, followed by serious damage to the respiratory system, causing a slow and painful death similar to drowning. It is normal for vets to euthanize dogs who have been poisoned to save them the pain.
Jennie Boyers, a veterinary nurse at Island Vets, said the surgery had to put six dogs down because of Paraquat poisoning in November and December.
Ms Boyers helped organize a petition of around 5,000 signatures calling for the herbicide to be banned. So far she has received no response to the petition from government.
Other animal welfare organizations, including CARE, have recommended measures including better enforcement of animal laws, registration of dogs and education in schools to reduce animal cruelty and create more responsibility and accountability among animal owners.
Related Videos
Perhaps if the Department of Agriculture was more responsible and pro-active with calls regarding nuisance dogs, people wouldn’t feel the need to take matters into their own hands. And before anyone slaughters me in a response, I’m not justifying anyone’s actions for killing an animal that is doing what they need to survive (scavenging, etc).
The animal control laws are not enforced on this Island. Owners do not face consequences for letting their dogs roam and are definitely not responsible for any bills if their roaming pet kills or attacks another animal or person.
Unfortunately, as has been said several times, until a child is harmed by the paraquat, nothing will be done to ban this substance from Cayman.