Dear Editor,
On Jan 29, 2011, Guyana Times carried a letter written by one T Narain under the title ‘Animal Shelter needs to expand its services.’ T Narain, like many of us, hates to see abuse to animals. While some people may have the necessary tools and vehicles needed to pick up animals and carry them to shelters, most in our country do not; as a result people turn a blind eye to the lame and dying animals, or they rescue them only to find they have no suitable place and end up giving the animals to anyone who would take them.
In his/her letter to the editor, T Narain said he/she called the animal shelter after rescuing a couple of stray kittens in the middle of the road in his/her village but became “disheartened and angry” when someone from GSPCA said “they could not come to us, we need to go to them.” T Narain went on to say that he/she lives in Wales and does not know Georgetown.
The GSPCA has been without a driver/inspector for several months and it is possible that this has reduced the quality of service they can offer. However, GSPCA normally does not provide animal pickup services outside their established boundaries, and consequently cannot always reach outlying areas like Wales.
However, that does not lessen the demand for animal support services on the West and East Banks of Demerara and all along the East Coast.
If GSPCA animal support services seldom reach outside their limited boundaries and if most people cannot afford to pay the related expenses to transport animals to the clinic, then why not organize a network of volunteers to provide the type of service T Narain suggests in his/her letter.
At the last AGM the GSPCA Management Committee awarded Kumar Singh, resident on West Bank Demerara, for the services he rendered to animals on his own initiative. Kumar provides a useful service on his own because he knows it is the right thing to do.
People like him exist in every community in Guyana (I know because I have been assisted by many of them); they just need to be identified and given a little moral and financial support.
Animal rights organizations around the world are effective because of the volunteer support they receive.
Now is the time to create such a network of volunteers in Guyana.
Will it be easy? Of course not; few things worth doing are easy. Can it be done? Of course it can; it only requires clarity of vision and commitment over time.
Yours faithfully,
Syeada Manbodh
