Dear Editor,
I read Syeada Manbodh’s letter dated February 5 in Stabroek News captioned ‘There must be a more humane way of dealing with impounded animals.’ Every day an animal stays at the pound the owner or owners have to pay pound fees, and the duty of the police is to see that these animals get fed and watered.
In my letter in SN of August 7, 2011, I said the laws in relation to roaming animals should be changed. Today many people rear cattle, sheep, goats, horses and donkeys and they have no ear-mark or brands. In every pound the pound-keeper keeps a book in which he enters all the brands and ear-marks of every animal impounded.
When some of these unbranded and unmarked animals damage vehicles on the road they cannot be sold to compensate for the damage done to the vehicle. If they are alive and the vehicle owner carries them to the pound and no one claims them, they should be sold within twenty-one days. I was very surprised to learn from Ms Manbodh’s letter that for nearly 6 months, including Christmas and New Year two goats and one ram (sheep) were still in the pound. In every police station in Guyana, even in Georgetown, the government is supposed to have a proper pound to keep animals. The Minister of Home Affairs gave the order to impound animals on the road and some places have stray-catchers; he should have made sure there was a proper pound for these animals with shelter. God bless Syeada Manbodh and her friends who care for these animals. They have life just like human beings, and they need food and water to drink. What about some of the pounds elsewhere in Guyana?
Yours faithfully,
Rudolph Singh