Dear Editor,
On Friday January 26 2007 at around 5:30pm, I stopped at the corner of Robb and Oronoque Street when I noticed an elderly security guard taking a very malnourished security dog into a yard of an office. The dog’s slightly hunched and very thin frame had bruises (and blue spray) on several parts of his body. The guard tied the dog in the yard and returned out. I asked the security guard if the dog had water and why he was so malnourished and had so many bruises. He said the dog did have water and that he was tied about 14 hours at the work site and then taken back to the residence and put into the kennel, where the dog must have gotten the bruises.
I’m a firm believer that dogs should be able to run freely in an enclosed area for a good part of the day. I asked the guard why the dog was not allowed to patrol the grounds at the work site. He said his boss gives the orders and told him to just tie the dog and leave him in one spot. He went on to say the dog gets good food but he only eats the chicken heads. When I looked into the bucket there was no water. I kindly asked the guard to put some water for the animal and he did.
I don’t know what controls there are on security companies to ensure they take proper care of their animals but whatever they are there is certainly room for improvement. Sick dogs, like sick people, will not perform to their best and one would think that a working dog would be cared for by his owner. Business that hire security companies with dogs should insist they be kept in good health. After all, if you’re paying to have your property protected by a dog, that dog should be up to the task.
Yours faithfully,
Syeada Manbodh
