A few months ago a posting on the dog/cat eradication in the village of Caye Caulker prompted our concern and led us to presenting our proposal to the chairman of the village council Mr. Alberto Villanueva. P.A.W.’s philosophy to the stray animal population is NO KILL. We do not believe in euthanasia either through poisoning or lethal injection to control animal population. There are far better humane options that are long term solutions.
The owners of animals roaming the streets are at fault and should be held accountable. Its wrong to punish an animal that has no fault what so ever and is only roaming to find food because they are hungry.
PAW believes that we all have created this stray dog problem through lack of foresight and responsibility so we should come together to find a better solution.
The eradication via euthanasia of any sort does not work, if it did, we would no longer be seeing dogs on the street the day after an eradication as is the current case here where the Caye Caulker Humane Society & the Caye Caulker Village Council came together to euthanize animals. This is concrete proof that this sort of so called population control DOES NOT WORK.
The following long term sustainable solution is P.A.W.’s proposal and we believe that Caye Caulker is small enough that results could be achieved and we will see positive impact. It has worked in many large metropolitan cities in the United States and Europe. We hope that the Caye Caulker Village Council can implement all or any of the suggestions below because we are certain that it would have a far better impact on the current situation.
Proposal
1. Find homes for the stray dogs – P.A.W. has taken this step and found homes in Canada for a couple of dogs prior to the eradication. Every animal deserves a chance.
2. Mandatory Micro- Chipping of pets – P.A.W. has offered to donate micro-chips. We are only waiting on the Village Council Chairman to tell us he wants them. This will enforce accountability on owners. Owners can no longer say that a dog does not belong to them. If animal are found roaming owners will be held liable and be charge a fee.
Please be aware that we are not microchipping animals so owners can find them if they are lost or they move. This is only being done to help the Caye Caulker Village Council locally to identify ownership and hold owners accountable for their pets.
3. Mandatory Licensing/registration- Again this will also enforce accountability. Owners cannot lie about ownership .
To license dogs owners must pay a fee which will include a picture ID, micro-chip & sterilization and must meet age criteria since many youngsters are not responsible pet owners put their dogs to fight with other dogs and these dogs end up on the streets once the owner begins to neglect the dog.
In addition, there must be a minimum of one pet per household. Many people cannot afford to have more than one dog and only want them when they are cute puppies but as they age these dogs end up on the street.
We also proposed a special license for individuals who want to breed their animals however these individuals must meet certain criteria regarding the welfare of the animal.
We recommend that licensing fees go to a humane education program or funding for low cost sterilization.
4. Mandatory Sterilization of pets – Studies show that un-sterilized dogs are more likely to stray and attract packs which can become unsafe for people. Furthermore this is the only way to humanely & efficiently control animal population. Statistics show that one un-sterilized female dog & off spring produces 67,000 puppies in 6 years.
The ideas behind this proposition is to foremost promote the health, safety and general welfare of the residents of this island by reducing the number of stray dogs and cats by responsibly and humanely eliminating the excessive numbers of unwanted animals on the island of Caye Caulker & foremost keeping animals healthy & safe.
These ideas will stop the needless killing of these animals be it by poisoning or lethal injection by restricting the breeding practices of pet owners and breeders and enforcing responsible pet care and ownership through legislation that is both reasonable and enforceable.
Basically, the rationale behind P.A.W.’s proposition is if you don’t take part to help better the situation with the stray dog situation and overpopulation of animals on Caye Caulker then you should not be allowed to contribute to the problem either.
The ideas behind our proposal are based on statistics compiled by our volunteers & members of P.A.W. visiting homes and observing pet owners first hand. We hope that P.A.W.’s proposal can help in some way and that it may be implemented.
