Even at Christmas, animal abuse cases abound

Images on social media pages of Cayman’s animal charities this year have featured depressing images of dogs that have been starved and abused, but one local charity says there has been an uptick in such cases in recent weeks.

Just in the past month, the Humane Society has received four dogs in alarming states, that required immediate veterinarian care, shelter board member Saskia Salden told the Compass.

“The Cayman Islands Humane Society receives several cases per year where a dog (or cat) has been terribly mistreated, neglected or abused but there was a spike in these cases over the last few weeks,” she said.

She added, “The Humane Society recently received four cases where dogs were mistreated, abused or neglected. Some of these dogs had owners, others had probably been abandoned and were taken care of, as best as they could, by concerned citizens.”

Among the dogs was a stray the shelter staff have named Nina, who was found with a deep slash wound across her back. The Humane Society says it has reported this case to the police.

Last week, the shelter received a dog, called Rambo, who was found on Anthony Drive in Windsor Park, George Town, severely emaciated, malnourished, dehydrated, with open sores and parasites. For a dog of his size, Rambo would be expected to weigh 65 pounds, but when he was found, he weighed just 45 pounds.

Nash, another dog at the shelter, was found recently in what the shelter described on its Facebook page as “a very bad state”.

“He could not walk, was very skinny, and both hind legs were very badly infected (swollen) and his hind feet were flat,” the Humane Society said.

An elderly dog named Mr President was brought to the shelter after being found in a yard, suffering from some serious medical conditions. “Surgery would be very invasive and the question was if this surgery could even be performed on island. Given the magnitude of his medical issues, his age, recovery time with no guarantee he would recover, we made the hard, yet humane decision, to end his suffering,” the shelter stated on its Facebook page.

“Despite all of this, Mr President was a gentle soul,” it said.

Protecting the rights of animals

Salden said, before these animals were brought to the shelter, they had needed medical care “that was not provided, which is against the law and in breach of the Five Freedoms”.

The five freedoms of animal welfare are: freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury or disease; freedom to express normal behaviour; and freedom from fear and distress.

Those five freedoms have been highlighted in a recent campaign called ‘Justice for Wilbur’, inspired by a dog called Wilbur who was found severely emaciated and starving in Prospect in October. Despite concerted efforts to save him, Wilbur died two weeks later as a result of the neglect he’d endured.

One Dog at a Time, the charity that helped Wilbur, is currently running a ‘seven days of awareness of animal cruelty’ campaign, and is calling anyone who sees cases of neglect or abuse to report it to the Department of Agriculture or to police.

In a statement issued following Wilbur’s death, Caroline Johnson, of One Dog at a Time, detailed some of the many cases of abuse the charity has encountered over the past few months, including puppies with tails and ears cut off with machetes; elderly dogs abandoned on the street or left in houses with no food or water; dogs hanged after trying to escape while being tied to a tree in their yard; and puppies discarded in plastic bags.

An online petition calling for stronger legislative protections for animals in Cayman has attracted more than 2,000 signatures since campaigners launched it in late November.

Salden at the Humane Society said dogs that are surrendered or brought by members of the public to the shelter are assessed by its vet and management teams, who decide what is best for the animal, and whether “treatment is feasible, possible, and within our means”.

However, she added that in certain cases, “unfortunately, it is the kindest thing to release the animal from its suffering and humanely euthanize”.

Luckily, she said, most of the dogs or cats who require treatment do survive, though “it comes with a big medical expense”, and the Humane Society depends on community and corporate donations to cover those and other expenses.

Asked what members of the public can do to help prevent or tackle animal abuse, she said, “If you see something, say something. Report animal abuse or neglect to the Department of Agriculture, if people want to remain anonymous, they can contact us as we will report on their behalf.”

She added, “Donate, volunteer, share social media posts, write to your MLAs to let them know what is going on and that this is not acceptable in our society.”

She also urged, “Please keep your animals safe, secure and in good health and treat them with kindness.”