Dear Editor,
As I drive or walk around the city and its neighbourhoods I am always on the lookout for suffering animals, and I seldom fail to spot one or more. When I’m at home there is seldom a day that good people don’t call informing me of animals they have seen in need of help.
Sunday morning (June 21) I was coming out of the Botanical Gardens when Fazal, a horse owner, stopped my car to tell me the cruel story about what someone did to his horse. Fazal lives in East Ruimveldt, across from a large fenced nursery school with lots of overgrown grass, where he usually ties his horse (away from the school). On Saturday night, just before 9 pm, he made his rounds to make sure his horse was tied and ok. He fed his horse some meal and retired for the night. The next morning he went to check his horse and found that rope and horse had been moved to another end of the yard. Someone had tied the neck of the horse tightly to the left front leg and then to the fence, nearly strangling the horse. The other leg was broken. Fazal quickly did what he could to reduce the horse’s suffering. He was overcome with emotion; the horse, his only source of income, was loved like a member of his family. With immense sadness, Fazal said, “the next day was worst, someone cut the horse above its knee and it lay dying”. The GSPCA was called and they arrived to end the suffering of the horse but there was no one to stop the suffering Fazal was feeling, and he still had to dispose of the body. Fazal also told me that several times in the past his cart tyres had been punctured. He said he has no problems with anyone in the community and doesn’t know who the culprit is. In the 18 years I have been trying to help animals this is the worst case of sick intentional animal cruelty I have seen.
On a happier note:
On Thursday (June 25) in the morning, just before entering the Botanical Gardens, I saw a three-toed sloth crawling outside the entrance. There were several persons looking on. I stopped my car, took out a towel and dog kennel, I wrapped the small sloth in the towel and put him/her into the kennel. I took it to the Zoo where the Zoo supervisor, Ms Adonika Spellen, made contact with Ms Alona Sankar, of the EPA Wildlife Division. They decided in the best interest of the sloth it should be released back into the wild since three-toed sloths only eat certain leaves. Within 30 minutes the Wildlife division came and picked up the sloth and made arrangements to have it released in an appropriate location. Kudos for the quick action by all those involved.
To your readers: When you see wildlife on the streets of Georgetown, get help in rescuing and delivering it safely to the EPA (223-0940), GSPCA (226-4237) or Guyana Zoo (225-9142) or call them for assistance/advice and please do not remove any wildlife from its natural habitat. If you are on the highway and you see a sloth crossing, please help it to cross the road safely. Do not pick it up!
Yours faithfully,
Syeada Manbodh
