Veterinarian s calls on lawmakers to review animal welfare laws
Animal cruelty through negligence continues to concern vets at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Fiji, who say it is the most common form of cruelty in Fiji, closely followed by intentional poisoning.
Recently, a dog that had broken its leg was brought to the SPCA Centre in Walu Bay with its broken leg healed backwards.
Its owners had left the broken leg without any pain control or medication for 10 years before they noticed the malformation. “What has been very disturbing here, and for me the most horrifying and the one that needs more education, is the amount of severe animal cruelty that’s gone through negligence,” said Canadian SPCA vet Dr Jessica Hoopes.
“(Things like) people not feeding their dog, people letting their dog get hit by a car and walking on a broken leg for three years and the owner has never put it together that that dog has been suffering.
“People just don’t think animals suffer the way humans do because the dog is still running around with its leg hanging off.”
The case represents one example of the numerous cases veterinary staff at SPCA receive almost on a daily basis including cases where dogs are tied up for too long. Police Spokesperson Ana Naisoro said the police force would investigate any reports of animal cruelty.
She said: “All reports received will be investigated and there is also a need for animal or pet owners to ensure their pets are kept in a confined space and not a danger to other people.” Meanwhile, if animal cruelty in Fiji is to be curbed, local animal welfare groups need to band together to educate the public and help out with the police, said Dr Hoopes.
Police have tried to help, Dr Hoopes said, but in many cases understandably have too much to do with “human crimes” to devote resources to complaints of animal cruelty.
“I’ve been here for almost two years and in the last two years I have seen a much stronger public interest in animal welfare and a much stronger push from the public wanting to see improved welfare laws,” Dr Hoopes said.
“I think that the lawmakers need to acknowledge the changing perspectives of the public and think about how to change things in the future.
“Right now, the enforcement falls to the police but obviously they already have a million things to do because there are other things in the human world and human crimes that resources are already scarce for.”
“Where I’m from in Canada, the SPCA is the governing body for any kind of cruelty, so what they do is they have trained investigators employed through the SPCA and they go out and investigate cruelty allegations very objectively and then provide that evidence to the crown for prosecution.”
In a similar way, and to assist the Police, Dr Hoopes said people with hands-on experience working with abused animals could aid investigations and help convict perpetrators. She added: “I think that’s a good way to do it because it allows the welfare groups to have the vested interests of the animals in mind but also takes the onus off the Police who already have so much to do.”