(Trinidad Guardian) Villagers of Fullerton Village, Cedros are concerned following the deaths of several animals within three days in the community.
Between Thursday and yesterday, two dogs and two goats died while others are sick. A bird carcass was also discovered.
Because the animals were frothing and vomiting, some residents suspect that they were poisoned. Calling for immediate testing of the animals, Cedros Councillor Shankar Teelucksingh said they cannot take any chances because on a daily basis illegal animals are being smuggled into the country.
“I only got the report today. I don’t know what is happening the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture need to look into this immediately.”
Complaining that that Cedros police are under-resourced and understaffed, he said the borders were not being properly manned.
“Just recently 37 illegal Venezuelans were found in Cedros. Just like human trafficking, there is animal trafficking. I am again calling on the Minister of National Security and the Prime Minister to at least tighten the security measures along the south-west peninsula. Our community is being exposed to so much.”
A resident, who did not want to be named, said on Wednesday her neighbour’s goat got sick and died. “We did not take it on, we say something was wrong with the goat. This morning we hearing a banging and groaning noise. When we look we see the dog dropping down, groaning and frothing.”
Thinking the dog may have been poisoned, she advised her neighbour against letting their goats loose. But, she said a pregnant goat which was sick since Thursday died, while two others are sick.
“The goat was frothing and groaning They though it was in labour.”
She said other dogs were also sick.
“It is very frightening. We don’t know what cause the death of these animals. It have a lot of kids around here. We don’t want the children to go outside because we don’t know what making the animals vomit. Next thing a child have a sore on his foot and they go out to play and mash the animal saliva and get infected.”
She said even more curious is that yesterday morning they left the dog’s carcass for the vultures, but the scavengers did not feed on it. Teelucksingh said he has informed the public health and the ministry of the situation and requested that tests be done to determine the cause of the animals’ sickness.
