The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas’ animal-welfare landscape showed contradictions this year: while more owners are sterilising their pets and surrendering fewer unaltered dogs, animal-rescue groups are confronting many cruelty, neglect and abuse cases.

The Bahamas Humane Society (BHS) reported a ten percent increase in the number of people bringing in dogs to be spayed or neutered. Roughly 30 percent of dogs surrendered this year have already undergone the procedure — a significant change from past trends.

BHS General Manager Percy Grant said this shift reflects a growing public understanding of responsible pet ownership.

“I think education and I think people are now experiencing the difficulty in trying to get rid of puppies and dogs that they don't want,” he said. “It isn't as easy as that anymore when they can just walk up and just say, ‘I’m going to give up my dog.’”

He said shelter overcrowding across New Providence is forcing people to reconsider surrendering their animals and has strengthened the push to control the dog population.

“There is a space issue, and at many times, and it's not just us, I think it's all around,” he said. “So I think people are now realising they need to try spayed and neutered their dose to get the population down and have these issues resolved.”

With kennel space stretched thin, Mr Grant said the Humane Society now accepts animals only in extreme circumstances.

“We'll take an animal in a case where all roads have come to an end. I always say very last resort. We will try to take an animal in a desperate situation, but we try not to. We give out food,” he said.

“We have a food bank to feed the animals. We get to do that donations, and we will give them food. Get to hold them off and until we get our numbers down.”

While intentional mutilation by humans has declined compared to earlier years, neglect remains pervasive. Mr Grant described embedded collars — leashes left on puppies that slowly cut into their necks as they grow — as among the worst cases now seen.

“There’s been malnutrition, people just not feeding dogs, but a lot of times, people just don't give a proper care, vet care because a dog looks skinny and a lot of times full of worms,” he said.

The Bahamas Alliance for Animal Rights and Kindness (BAARK!) has documented an escalation in cruelty reports from 2023 to 2024. The organisation said recent cases include intentional poisoning, machete wounds, deliberate burning with hot oil or water, starvation caused by tethering dogs on very short leashes, and animals being struck by vehicles and left to die.

In April, two people were convicted of animal cruelty in what advocates say is the first successful prosecution under the Animal Protection and Control Act.