Government’s Animal Control Centre, the agency responsible for all dogs on the island, has reported an increase in the number of canines being abandoned by their owners.
Head of the Centre, Animal Control Officer Allison Caddle, disclosed that based on the cases reported, on average 160 dogs were abandoned on a monthly basis in Barbados.
She added the reasons include persons moving from houses to apartments and are, therefore, unable to take their pets due to restrictions by their landlords; family members with allergies; they are no longer able to feed or care for the animal; they do not have enough time to take care of the dog; they prefer “big breed” dogs, so they get rid of the “common breed” ones, and the dog is ill or either too aggressive or not aggressive enough.
However, Ms. Caddle urged pet owners to surrender their dogs, that is, hand them over to the Animal Control Centre instead of abandoning them.
“If you have a pet you can no longer afford, the best thing to do is to call the Animal Control Centre at 536-3162 or 536-3163. You can surrender the dog; if we’re full, you can liaise with other agencies like the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or Ocean Acres Animal Sanctuary, just to name a few.
“We’d prefer people deal with it in that way instead of letting [the dog] become a problem for somebody else by pulling out garbage or even getting hit, killed or poisoned. So, we’d rather the animal come in and we try to get it rehomed, if it is possible to do so, instead of letting it roam or fend for itself,” she advised.
The Animal Control Officer said the Centre can accommodate approximately 75 dogs at any one time, depending on the size or breed of the animal. If the dogs cannot be rehomed, they will, unfortunately, be euthanised.
“The rehoming rate is really low, about six per cent. This goes back to many individuals’ inability to care for animals. Those that are not rehomed are kept for at least a month, after which they are euthanised,” Ms. Caddle explained, adding that euthanising dogs negatively impacted the dogs that remained at the Centre, as well as staff who form a bond with the animals.
While cases of abandonment are on the increase, the number of people licensing their dogs has also increased in recent times. The spike occurred, Ms. Caddle pointed out, after an unfortunate case of the death of a dog, which was highlighted on social media.
By law, dogs six months and older should be licensed with the Animal Control Centre. One of the benefits include legal proof of ownership in the event that the dog is lost or ‘straying’ and is taken to the Centre, or picked up.
Animal Control Officers can use the dog’s tag to access information in their database to contact the owner. The fees for licensing dogs range from $5 per dog annually, or $10 per dog every three years, while those that are neutered and spayed, owners only have to pay a one-time fee over the animal’s lifetime. There is also a $15 fee for the collection of dogs.
The revenue earned from licensing assists Government with implementing its social programmes. Ms. Caddle also encouraged pet owners to spay and neuter their dogs which would help to significantly reduce the stray population on the island.
She further advised that persons construct kennels that are two to three times the size of their dogs at adulthood, to prevent them from injuring themselves when they jump, or from hindering their overall growth.