The irresponsibility of many pet owners is leading to the needless death of hundreds of innocent dogs in Cayman.
Despite the fact that the dog licence is free, many people are still not bothering to get one.
And not having a dog wearing the accompanying metal tag on its collar that can readily identify it could one day mean the difference between life and death for the animal.
Stray dogs and other animal problems are keeping the Department of Agriculture’s new animal control and rescue centre in Lower Valley busy with the same, sometimes rewarding, often heartbreaking tasks that its previous shelter on Smith Road handled.
Even though the unit is picking up around 800 stray dogs a year compared to a figure of 1,200 a year in the 1990s, that figure is still a high one.
‘We are encouraged but we still need a lot more co-operation and there’s still a long way to go,’ said the unit’s senior officer Ronald Green.
The tragic fact remains that many of the dogs that are picked up and taken to the unit remain unidentified and unclaimed and, if not adopted, end up being destroyed.
‘And that’s the hardest part of the job,’ said Mr. Green, who stresses the importance of the dog licence.
‘Some people believe that since it’s free it’s not important,’ he said. ‘But it’s extremely important because it’s the easiest way to reunite the animal with the owner.’
And being able to re-unite animals with their owners is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the job, said Mr. Green.
Pet owners are being urged to be more responsible about things like spaying and neutering and about taking on puppies that might later end up being discarded when they get bigger.
The centre can house more than 30 dogs and 10 cats and has other facilities including a medical examination room.
In addition to picking up strays, the unit has to deal with a wide variety of work including handling sometimes vicious, sometimes injured animals.
Staff at the centre receives calls to deal with a range of animals that includes stray horses, cattle, goats and even such things as turtles, iguanas and snakes.
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