Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Indar Weir has defended the Government against charges that it is dragging its feet in implementing measures to stamp out animal cruelty.He said not only have some issues been addressed, but the Mia Mottley administration remains committed to further improvements.Weir’s comments follow claims by the founder of the Humane Organisation for the Relief of Suffering Equines (HORSE) Charity, Monique Archer, that Government had not followed through on several of its promises.In an interview with Barbados TODAY last week, she pointed out that Government’s plan to launch a public service campaign and amend the Animal Cruelty Act to provide stiffer penalties had not materialised.However, Weir said the Government was not wavering.He explained that money for the public service campaign has to be allocated in next year’s budget but if funds could be sourced outside of that, it would be welcomed.
One animal activist group is disappointed that Government has not followed through on its promises to get tougher on persons who abuse or kill animals.Founder of the Humane Organisation for the Relief of Suffering Equines (HORSE) Charity, Monique Archer told Barbados TODAY Government’s commitment to launching a public service campaign and to amend the Animal Cruelty Act to allow for stiffer penalties for those found guilty of animal cruelty, had not materialised.Her comments have come in the wake of the gruesome discovery of the remains of a horse which was reportedly brutally killed earlier this week.Archer said the horse had been decapitated, one of its legs was amputated and the majority of its lean meat had been taken by the perpetrators. The remains were found in a pasture in St Thomas.The advocate told Barbados TODAY ever since a video showing a dog dying on Pebbles Beach back in September had caused public outrage and resulted in a man being hauled before the law courts, quick
Too many people are still dumping their pets while others are exploiting the free or discounted neutering and spaying services offered by animal charities.These were the two main areas of concern for organisers of Walk for the Animals, a family-oriented activity organised by local animal welfare groups to recognise World Animal Day on Tuesday.Founder of Action for Animals Barbados Gail Hunte said during the heightened stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, scores of Barbadians were abandoning their pets because they had lost their jobs and could not afford to maintain the animals.However, she said that although the COVID-19 situation had eased and thousands of Barbadians had restarted work, this was still a major issue.