Dear Editor,
I have been coming to Guyana for the last five years or so. I love the country and the people. I never had any bad experience until the last eight days when I was travelling with some friends along the road in the village of Port Mourant, Corentyne, Berbice.
Suddenly we saw a donkey sitting in the middle of the road, feeling, probably the gush and rush of the insensitive moving vehicles and their occupants. One of his legs was crushed and blood was oozing out onto the street. Like all others, we left the animal and went to watch a cricket match nearby.
After about two hours when we were coming back, guilt took over me. I asked my friend to stop the car and with the help of one of the companions in the car I managed to make the donkey stand up on its three feet and walk to the side of the road.
I thought the owner would soon attend to this poor creature and he would be taken to some veterinarian. To my surprise my friend called me Thursday and told me that the donkey is still standing at the same location.
I started talking to animal rights activist, Syeada Manbodh and my friends to find some help. Ms Manbodh advised me to call the secretary at the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) who in turn referred me to the Region 6 coordinator, Dr Farley. I called her and was attended by a voice message. I explained the situation briefly and asked her to call me.
I called the Guyana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPSA) which said it didn’t have jurisdiction in the Berbice region but was kind enough to give me numbers of two veterinarians’ offices in New Amsterdam. It was Saturday; obviously no one is there to attend to my calls.
It was also the seventh day since the incident; I was still trying to get some help for this donkey. Being a foreigner in this region, that’s the best I could have done.
That Saturday afternoon I thought I would go and check the donkey again. On my way I received the call from Dr Farley and to my surprise when I reached the destination, she was also parking her vehicle.
She quickly tended to the wounded donkey and told me that from that moment onward a veterinarian would take care of this animal. I was very pessimistic about the whole situation but with a very professional and timely response from one government official my pessimism changed to optimism. I am still very upset about the local community’s ignorance in relation to this wounded donkey.
The Qur’an, Bible, Ramayan, and many humanitarian charters, all talk about the kindness, love and compassion which should be shown to all the living creatures in the world, especially those who are pets or the means of support or survival of the human race.
Donkeys are the most abused animals on this planet. They help humans to carry their loads and even carry them from place to place, sometimes in very rough and difficult terrain. We in return beat them, ignore them, don’t feed them properly and when they are wounded or sick leave them to suffer for days to die in pain and agony. Can’t we be kind and caring towards these long-time slaves of our needs?
Yours faithfully,
Mujahid Ghazi