Dear Editor,
There is something about animals in distress that tugs at our heart strings and makes many of us want to take action. I used to think the majority of Guyanese didn’t care about animals, but happily those thoughts are being proven wrong.
One only has to look at some of the recent positive events. In February 2011 our now First Lady, Mrs Ramotar, took decisive action that led to the rescue of a young dog abandoned in a trench (with a chain around its neck) in front of her residence. Last month the Fire Department responded to cries for help from a good Samaritan at the High Court that led to the rescue of Bam, Bam, the High Court’s pet cat and top rat catcher, from the court’s roof. Since August 2011, Soraya Richardson and I have been going to the Sparendaam Police Station pound to lend help and sustenance to the impounded animals.
We clean the pound, move the animals around and untangle those tied with ropes, then feed and water the animals and, most importantly, we lobby the relevant authorities to get an early release of the animals. In the past two weeks ‘Bully‘ the purebred ram (sheep) was returned to his harem at the Guyana Livestock Development Authority after 9 months of incarceration and ‘Lill Boy‘ a magnificent draycart horse was released after only one week in ‘jail.‘ Many times our work with animals could not be done without the help of Noreen Gaskin, who provides major assistance including grass, food and manpower to assist us.
Most recently, GPL workers came to the rescue of a bird tangled in kite twine hanging on electrical lines.
I got a call around 9 am on May 14, 2012 from my friend Desiree who was travelling in a taxi west along Thomas Land just past Albert Street.
She noticed a bird caught up and dangling from a twine attached to GPL wires. Fearing the worst for the bird, she asked the driver to stop and called me from her cell phone, begging me to bring a long stick to rescue the apparently injured bird. Outfitted with my rescue tools, I rushed to the site and saw the poor thing swinging in the wind.
Her fellow birds were close by, making loud noises, apparently asking for help. My rescue pole turned out to be too short but as fate would have it, a convoy of GPL vehicles just happened to be passing.
We flagged them down and explained what was happening. The men quickly jumped into action, driving one of their vehicles under the bird and using their pole to catch the twine and lower the bird. I loaned them my knife to cut the twine from the bird‘s wing and got my dog kennel ready to insert the injured animal.
Happily for the bird, she had no broken bones and once the twine was removed she was able to fly over to her friends who seemed to be cheering her on.
On behalf of our voiceless friends I want to give a big thanks to the GPL crew, Desiree and the taxi driver, Soraya, Noreen, the First Lady and all the rest of you who, when seeing animals in distress take action. We look forward to many more positive stories with happy endings – about people helping animals in distress.
Yours faithfully,
Syeada Manbodh
