Unacceptable animal cruelty in Seychelles |05 March 2015

All countries of the world have problems with stray animals mainly dogs but they have a process and a structure in place to cope with the problems. In Seychelles we have allowed the problems of stray dogs to get out of hand as one government department passes the buck to another or one agency to another.

When the private sector tries to get involved they are frustrated and banded from pillar to post with no solution in sight. Consequently we have stray dogs roaming the streets of Victoria, our capital city.  

Tourists see our leading politicians stand up on the world stage with pride and confidence, and so they should, representing our small island state, which is advanced in a number of aspects, but when they come to Seychelles on holiday they find stray dogs scrounging food in our main city, this is not acceptable.

When tourists catch a bus opposite the airport to go to Victoria they are welcomed by stray dogs and wild chickens cackling ‘Welcome to Paradise’ to them and then they find chicken poo on their luggage, this is also unacceptable.

I once mentioned to a former minister that we have chickens roosting at the bus stop opposite our international airport and he said “catch them and eat them”. This is a sad mentality. It seems my neighbours have taken the advice of our former minister because now there is only one old cockerel cackling alone at tourists at the bus stop opposite our international airport. Not bad considering we are labelled as a middle income country. Someone must possess a warped sense of humour.

Animal lovers are asking what has happened to our once vibrant SSPCA. People say some time ago they donated money to SSPCA to improve their services but their services have got worse. Animal owners, me included, have complained about the poor state of services rendered by SSPCA and the Veterinary Services.

I got involved because twice I took my dog for treatment and my dog picked up ticks which thrive on the floor of the waiting area at Union Vale. We had to go back to Victoria to buy tick powder. Apart from pet owners having to wait in the intense heat outside, the young veterinary doctors who have spent many years earning their qualifications work in the most unacceptable conditions. The site at Union Vale is in dilapidation. It is not fair on the young doctors, who do their very best to deliver good treatments to our animals under appalling conditions. We are taking advantage of their love for animals and giving them a bad deal which is not fair to them. The staff at Union Vale deliver the best service they can under the circumstances but the circumstances have been left to deteriorate by those responsible to provide the necessary resources. People complain among themselves instead of to the right authority then they wonder why nothing gets done.  Some say they fear to complain because they will be victimised or even lose their job. Can you believe this in this day and age?

Sometimes the young doctors do not have sufficient medicines to administer to the animals so they have to beg and borrow from the private vets. How can we expect our young generation to deliver their best if we do not provide them with the right tools and facilities? It is no wonder our best brains go to work overseas.

I am tired of hearing the excuses given that we lack resources.  We have the resources; we lack the willpower and the motivation to make things happen.

Things do not get done because everyone is busy “passing the buck” and the buck does not stop anywhere. We lack qualities called ownership and responsibilities. Some people want to carry the title but they don’t want to carry the responsibilities, they are full of ideas which they expect others to deliver while they take the credit. Some of them get angry when they are faced with the truth.

Our tourism industry will be adversely affected if we do not treat our animals humanely. Some tourists have already indicated they will not come back to Seychelles until we resolve the mistreatment of our animals. (Tourism) Minister Alain St Ange is aware of this situation.

It is time to re-introduce dog licence to make sure owners are registered and they take responsibility for their dogs. A fine and/or imprisonment must be put on Statute for those people who mistreat animals because every plant, every animal, every human has a right to live on this Planet Earth without fear of persecution and mistreatment. SBC and the Ministry of Education have failed to educate the population at large on how to treat animals. There is insufficient education in animal welfare, which is the basis of our current problems. We have witnessed many instances where helpless puppies are left by the bins to die and dogs are tied up all day and night and the chain round their neck cuts through their flesh while flies live off the raw bleeding flesh. This is the result of lack of education. How would you like it if an animal did this to you?

Many people report they have witnessed inhumane killing of our stray dogs. They claim someone in government has engaged the services of a private pest control company to lay poison for the stray dogs in Providence, Montagne Posée and elsewhere. There are also reports that stray animals taken to SSPCA are killed if no one comes forward to adopt them after three days. Their bodies are then taken to Star Seychelles in Providence to be buried or burnt; it seems no one knows for sure how our dead animals are dealt with once they leave our cruel world.

Animal lovers report seeing stray dogs bearing the sign of deliberate acts of torture and left to die inhumanely by the roadside and this is happening in Paradise. I have seen stray dogs in Providence bearing the scars of hot water or hot oil poured on their skin in attempts to get rid of them. Tourists come to Seychelles looking for peace and tranquillity and they are faced with stray dogs on the beach. This is completely unacceptable and it is not because we cannot do anything about it, we have the resources but we are spending our resources on other things which for many of us are of less importance. If we can raise millions of rupees to stage the Indian Ocean Games we can raise money to take care of our animals. We have access to resources if we really want to address the problems.

We now have private enterprises like Pet Haven, Seychelles Animal Welfare (SAW) and we have two private veterinary doctors  operating as ‘Mobile Clinics’ and our young people are becoming animal lovers therefore there is now more resources to get things done. Good animal welfare is part of our modern society. In developed countries cruelty to animals is a serious crime but in Seychelles we still turn a blind eye to mistreatment of animals. It is shameful.

It seems to me that a new management team is required in SSPCA; as far as it is known SSPCA is supposed to be a self-funding NGO and there are many activities SSPCA can indulge in to created funds and deliver a good service, there is really no excuse for the poor state of affairs that prevail currently.

Wallace Cosgrow, the new Minister for Agriculture has indicated that he is an animal lover, which is a great relief and a meeting is being arranged for the problems to be resolved. What we need now is for all interested parties and stakeholders to stop making excuses and we proceed with providing the facilities we need to take care of our animals.

MLUH must move to subdivide the land allocated for animal welfare in Providence between SSPCA and Pet Haven. This is long overdue. This land belongs to the people of Seychelles and animal welfare is a very important element in the lives of the people in the new Seychelles.

AG’s office and the Judiciary must move to make it a crime punishable by fines and/or imprisonment for people who mistreat animals. I happen to believe that some animals behave better than some humans...  

Contributed by: Barry Laine FCIM, FInst SMM, MCMI, MBSCH
Email: barrylaine@hpcgroup.sc -  www.academyofhighperformance.sc