The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

I had the honour of volunteering in Operation Potcake in January of this year. It was a magnificent coalition of locals and foreigners coming together with one aim in mind; to begin to control the mass breeding of dogs which proliferate our street and neighbourhoods.

This was a much needed and welcomed undertaking for many animal lovers who regularly collect stray animals.

This amazing group of people gave selflessly to help mitigate the extreme suffering of starving, injured and sick animals, and to prevent several generations of animals from being born.

To hear that local vets at the eleventh hour are looking to cash in on a voluntary exercise is very disheartening.

This has nothing to do with whether foreign vets are better than our Bahamian vets.

Indeed they have admitted that they cannot spay and neuter as many animals as Operation Potcake would be able to do.

These are animals that would also never see a vet in their lifetime, as such, the vets are not being impacted from a monetary point of view either.

This is an undertaking that can put a huge dent in the number of unwanted animals that will end up on the street or in the pound. Already animal lovers have taken in more dogs and cats than they actually want because they can’t stand to watch these animals suffer.

The Bahamas Humane Society and other local individuals and organizations are filled to the brim with dogs and cats they need to find homes for.

Everyday there are posts on Facebook looking for homes.

So why would the vets, who ostensibly have become vets because they are animal lovers and do not want to see animals suffer, block such a fantastic opportunity to end the suffering?

The government praised this event in January and openly invited Operation Potcake to continue for 5 years. I sincerely hope that they intervene and allow entry of the foreign vets.

On another but very related note, the government should seriously consider a moratorium on people breeding their dogs and cats until the over population of animals is under control.

And, the public can step in and do their part by not purchasing dogs and cats, and instead adopt one – the shelters and the volunteers have literally hundreds to choose from.

for the Pots,

SAM DUNCOMBE

reEarth