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Lola was put down yesterday afternoon

Tribune Staff Reporter

mreynolds@tribunemedia.net

THIS is starved and sickly pit bull potcake Lola. Just hours after this photograph was taken at the government dog pound ... she was killed.

Lola was one of 45 dogs collected by the canine control unit this week and euthanised yesterday morning in time for their carcasses to be collected by environmental health services for disposal, as they are every Friday.

Lola was one of tens of thousands of strays who roam the streets of Nassau without food, water or shelter, to their great suffering and at a risk to public health.

Staff at the canine control unit say their numbers are increasing as the poor economy and high rate of unemployment has left owners unable to care for their pets, and driven dogs away from their masters' homes.

Each week around 50 dogs and perhaps a dozen cats are collected in traps by some of the nine staff at the canine control unit government dog pound in an area of the Botanic Gardens, Chippingham.

The unwanted animals are locked in the 45 dark and tiny cement cells in pairs before their pitiful lives are brought to an end.

Legislation requires the animals to be kept alive for at least four days to give owners an opportunity to collect their pets, but as the majority of dogs are brought to the pound at their owner's will, it is an unlikely outcome for the poorly-treated pets.

Their dying days are spent crammed in a kennel, some with broken limbs, flesh wounds, mange, and if they are not already infested with ticks and fleas, they will be within 24 hours of staying at the pound.

A lack of funding, resources, and a body of staff a third of the size of what it should be, means the care for the dogs is minimal.

These wandering potcakes, pit bulls, and pit bull-mixes like Lola, have no space to roam. They rely on the food and rusty water provided twice a day by the supervisor and five wardens who run the dog pound.

Those who arrive at the pound suffering from serious injuries or illness are put to sleep almost immediately, as are motherless puppies never given a chance at life.

Freezes

Their bodies are stored in three deep freezes untll Friday morning before their bodies are collected and disposed of.

Criticisms of the inhumane way animals are treated at the pound have been highlighted in The Tribune since a 14-year-old visitor wrote to the newspaper to share with the public the horrors he had seen. A live dog locked in a kennel with a dead dog, faeces covering the floors of the kennels, and animals locked up without food and water.

His complaints sparked public outrage and the formation of an activist group demanding better conditions at the pound which now has more than 500 members.

But in the first ever public tour of the facility, The Tribune found it is the culture of cruelty to animals bringing dozens of neglected and poorly treated dogs and cats to the pound week after week.

When The Tribune visited the pound yesterday, supervisor Kirkland Glinton said the 45 dogs and seven cats collected this week, all killed yesterday, is average.

Department of Agriculture and Marine Resources veterinarian Godfrey Springer euthanises the animals with assistance from staff.

He said: "It's not easy for me as a vet to put animals to sleep but it's a public health issue; it's creating a risk to public health and as a country we have to remove the disease element from the population."

However their work has little impact on the number of stray dogs wandering throughout New Providence, as Dr Kirkland said as soon as 50 dogs are collected and killed, another 50 will be found wandering in the same areas the following week.

What is required is responsible animal ownership, Dr Springer said. He told The Tribune: "We have to create a culture of people who love animals.

"We need responsible animal ownership. Dogs are living things, they need to be fed and watered, and to be housed in a comfortable home. They need to be seen by a veterinarian at least twice a year.

"They should not be tied up so the rope around their neck cuts into their skin, and they should not be roaming into neighbours' yards or in the streets."

n What are your views on dog cruelty in the Bahamas? Who's to blame? And read more revelations next week.

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Hello

Oh no this is so very sad! You can see this is one very unhappy Lola. But you know what she has now gone to a place of rest and where she will be loved and treated with respect the way she so longed for. This is sad to hear! RIP Lola

Thanks
Have a nice time a head

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