Animals are treated so badly here!

[yipeee]

Throughout my time on the island the thing that has shocked me the most is how people treat animals here. Just the other night someone abandoned 4 puppies right in front of our apt. Thanks goodness my neighbors saw them and took them in. Because just last week we found out that some landlords have been poisoning dogs. At another instance my one of my friends saw how a truck driver ran over a dog which was pregnant (he never even tried to slow down. Also many kind students have paid for the spading of some dogs that have had countless litters. Well, suffice to say that they obviously don't view animals like we do!

[Junito]

People can be just as cruel in the states. Recently in NYC a man was arrested for cruelly killing a cat. He beat the cat until it was dead, just because it nipped his thumb. Unfortunately animal cruelty exists in everywhere.
:cry:
Juni711

[oc23]

i'm not trying to justify cruelty to animals (that truck driver was unforgivable!)...but you have to understand that dominicans are not as "rich" as americans. a lot of them hardly have enough to feed their own family, much less a litter of dogs. if you're living in poverty and have one dog to look over your farm, are you going to spend what little money you have to take that dog to a vet to have it spayed, neutered, immunized, groomed, etc.? most of them don't even feed their dogs commercialized dog food -- they just give them bones and leftovers from their own meals.

like i said, cruelty to animals is never justified. i love dogs; i have 2 myself! but you certainly can't expect dominicans to pamper their dogs like americans do.

[stacy_de_lin]

Not that med school students have a lot of time, but if you can find a vet to do so, you might be able to raise some money on campus and start to spay/neuter. This cuts down on things like unwanted litters and pet overpopulation. If I ever make it to Dominica (hopefully soon!), I would love to help out on something like this.

I agree that cruelty happens everywhere in the world, but I have traveled to different places in the world where animals are treated differently. Here, if I saw a dog on the street I would chase it down until I could catch it and find its owner, but I have been to places where sickly looking dogs roam the streets, and I know that it is hard to deal with.

[FoxTrot]

Why not just spade them ourselves? It can't be all that hard to do it and you'd save the people money by offering your "service". A little snip here and there with some sharp scissors should be suffice. :twisted:

[arneyken]

i worked on a farm where we neutered pigs and that is pretty easy if done within the first few weeks, now about spading i am not sure how easily done that would be, hope this info helps

[stacy_de_lin]

Ok, FoxTrot, I got the sarcasm, but I'm seriously concerned about arneyken. Just think, these are the future doctors of America.....

P.S.....
Why not just spade them ourselves?

From Merriam-Webster:
Spade
Pronunciation: 'spAd
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English spadu; akin to Greek spathE blade of a sword or oar
1 : a digging implement adapted for being pushed into the ground with the foot


:D Heehee. -- Stacy

[oc23]

SPAYED

Verb: spay spey
1. Remove the ovaries of

Adjective: spayed
1. (Of a female animal) Having the ovaries removed

[stacy_de_lin]

SPAYED

Verb: spay spey
1. Remove the ovaries of

Adjective: spayed
1. (Of a female animal) Having the ovaries removed



Exactly.....

[Talvez]

Sorry to sound so rude or pessimistic ,but People are treating people even worse .So why do you expect them to treat animals better?

[stacy_de_lin]

Sigh.... I kinda hate when topics go off of medicine or life in Dominica, but I had to respond to this one. So to keep it very, very brief, I can just respond by saying this.... that it's not an either/or scenario. You don't have to choose between kindness to people OR kindness to animals. You can live your life by being kind to both.

Furthermore, I think that kindness to animals will ultimately reflect itself in kindness to people. I worked in a program in Los Angeles that worked with abused children. The children were taught to train dogs using all nonviolent methods, and I believe that if humans, especially children, can learn to practice nonviolence with animals, these nonviolent behaviors can be directly linked to practicing nonviolence with themselves, other people, and the environment.

That's it. :) Tonight, I will be wishing for the best for the pets, and the people, of Dominica.

Stac'

[medNoir]

Its a cultural thing.

From watching Benji and Lassie on tv to mascots in the movies to APL and DSC channels, we've been raised to think differently of non-humans than other cultures.

[dimples]

But I think we also have to realize that in America, there aren't that many stray dogs walking around...unless you're in the ghetto.

We have animal control that'll put them (all the unwanted/unclaimed pets) to sleep whereas I guess the Dominicans poison them. They still end up dead either way :( . Just something to think about...

[medNoir]

that too.
We stomp out rats even though they're also warm and furry.
Even taking our own initiative to put out baited rat poison.
Being a pest changes our sentimentalities.

There is no animal control for cute animals in Dominica like in the US.