An Upper Corentyne woman is pleading with the Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, to intervene and assist her in recovering her animals from the pound, since she believes that they were wrongfully captured.
According to Vonetta Newland, 40, cattle farmer, of Number 58 Village, Corentyne, the animals were ambling through the street returning home last Friday when the stray catchers noticed them and rushed through the street to capture them. She said, that they started to “wild up the animals” which led to them going into an empty lot. “So my husband start to chase it out from the empty lot and them [stray catchers] tell he let he don’t chase it out.”
She alleged that before pounding the animals, the stray catchers requested a sum of money from her husband. She said after her husband refused to pay the amount requested, the stray catchers then chased the animals from the street to the main road and then to the pound.
The woman explained, that she has since contacted the overseer at the neighbourhood democratic council who agreed with her that they were wrongfully captured. She said she now has to pay $20,000 to the stray catchers and $8,000 to the persons who watched the animals overnight. “I don’t mind paying the people who watch it overnight because me glad that somebody at least watch the animals but I don’t think I should pay $20,000 to the pound, that is unfair because they not suppose to pound my animal where they were.”
Furthermore, she said that her animals are not being fed and this is affecting them, “If you see how thin, thin them look. If they pound people animals they should have systems in place to take care of them,” she stressed.
The frustrated woman is calling on the relevant authorities to look into the matter immediately, noting, that it is a norm for stray catchers in the region to “wrongfully” pound your animals. She is also calling on the animal welfare department to look into the matter.
There have been many reports of stray catchers pounding animals wrongfully in Region Six, sometimes even when the owners are present and also, even when the persons with the animals have documentation from the NDC stating that they are allowed to graze in the area.
Cattle farmers have spoken out numerous times in the past about the way stray catchers operate and the need for them to be held accountable.
