Mass dog poisoning sparks outcry |11 April 2023
- Animal lovers call for swift enquiry
Several lifeless dogs, both strays and domesticated ones, were spotted around the country last week, sparking a nationwide outcry from locals on social media as well as from foreigners, who are against any form of cruelty to animals.
The bodies were spotted on Wednesday last week and since then there has been reports of dead dogs on Mahé and Praslin mainly.
Among those who contacted Seychelles NATION was Walter Larue, whose business is in Providence and who was domesticating some stray dogs found in the area.
He said all his dogs have been killed.
“It is heartbroken. We were feeding those strays, put a collar on them and keep them in our compound. They came with poison and killed them all. Someone must be held responsible,” he said.
Although most comments on social media referred to incidents in the Providence area, there were also reports of dead dogs as far as Anse Royale. A guest staying at a hotel in that district shared a video showing seven dead dogs she had been feeding during the previous days, in a nearby area. The video, which was posted on the social media page of the non-governmental organisation advocating for animal rights, Seychelles Pet Haven Society, sparked an outrage with former visitors calling for a boycott on travels to Seychelles, an independent enquiry, as well as some foreigners saying they will be lobbying international media to cover the story.
One of the past visitors, Christoph Scholand, who said he has been to Seychelles thrice, stated he will not be coming back until the killing of animals stops.
“We adopted a dog from Seychelles this year and feel abysmal disgust at this cruel killing,” he stated.
For his part, animal lover and environment consultant, Alain De Comarmond, condemned the use of poisoning saying it was not the conventional way to control stray dogs in the country.
He suggested other forms of measures that could be carried to reduce their population such as spaying/neutering programmes, adoption, vaccination, as well as public education campaign among others.
“I do not think anybody is questioning the need to have an ethical and human stray dog control programme. My concern is the mass poisoning approach which is not the conventional way to go about this. Anybody who loves animals and believes in animal welfare sees this as a very brutal and inhumane approach which looks very bad on us as a country and especially a touristic destination,” he told Seychelles NATION.
Lynn Tregarthen, who is the group marketing manager at the pest control company, PESTEA, based in Providence also stated that their company was strongly against poisoning as a form of control measure.
She added that PESTEA is frequently approached to help catch strays but feel that poisoning was not required.
“PESTEA catches dogs and we either drop them at the animal homes or have them rehomed. Dogs are in most cases pets and of late the number of strays that we see are fruit of something that is not working in the system,” stated Mrs Tregarthen. PESTEA has also urged local authorities to react urgently.
It should be noted that both main animal welfare groups in the country, Seychelles Society for Preventing Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA Seychelles) and Seychelles Pet Haven Society have also condemned the mass poisoning. In a post on social media last Thursday, SSPCA wrote that it was “shocked and outraged at the mass poisoning of animals at Zone 18 and 20”, adding that “the SSPCA is against this cruel and inhumane killing of animals. We take this cowardice act very seriously and will be investigating the incident”.
For her part, Myriam Hoareau of the Seychelles Pet Haven Society described the incident as a heartless, cruel act. Speaking to Seychelles NATION she said, “it was sad those animals are ending up this way and this is not going down well with locals and foreigners, who now view us as a country who is so cruel to those that cannot speak up or fight for themselves”.
It is unclear who is responsible for the nationwide poisoning, although people are speculating that it could be the work of the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, which had issued a public notice last month in the Seychelles NATION newspaper, stating that it was going to undertake dog control measures all over Mahé, Praslin and La Digue “due to an increase in cases of nuisance caused by stray dogs”. In the public notice it had advised dog owners to always keep their pets on their property.
Contacted, the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment said it will not make any comments and the concerns will be addressed at a press conference expected to take place this week.
Meanwhile, the recent incident has forced many individuals and animal advocacy groups to initiate a new petition that is expected to the presented to the National Assembly tomorrow, Wednesday, April 12. It deplores the use of poison as part of dog control measures and calls for the authorities to explore alternative methods such as human capture, relocation, or sterilisation programmes, which have been proven effective in other countries.
Animal lovers are also expected to take to the streets of Victoria tomorrow, Wednesday, April 12, at 4pm to protest animal cruelty.
Under the Seychelles’ Control and Protection of Dogs Act 2021, dog owners should register their animals and must have a limited number of dogs on their property, which is five.
Patsy Canaya
Photos – social media