Dear Editor,
In yesterday’s news, an eleven-year-old boy from the Rupununi died while riding a horse. A few days ago a motorcyclist died after riding into a cow on the Corentyne public road. Several people have lost their lives in similar fashion in past years.
Here in Lethem where I live, complaints about animals on the road have gone unheeded for years. A few weeks ago, I saw six dogs sitting on the parapet outside my home. These same dogs terrorise passing cyclists and pedestrians throughout the day. The following day there were five pigs (yes, pigs) wallowing in the water on the same parapet. Two days later motorists had to stop because of five horses that stood at a main junction near my home. Two days ago a ten-year-old boy galloped past riding a horse without a saddle. In any case, saddle or not, how is it not possible for an under-aged boy to drive a motor car, yet he can ride a horse that has no brakes?
I cannot understand how a supposedly caring government can value the safety of animals before the lives of its people. More people will lose their lives unless a country-wide system of impounding animals is put in place.
Yours truly,
Clairmont Lye
