Sunday October 11, 2009, 7:09 am
Okay this made me sick...My buddies they have the rule of the roost...are fat and very happy...No dog should endure this kind of treatment. This is one of so many reasons I am discusted with mankind....

BIg gOirllly Hugs

Sunday October 11, 2009, 7:10 am
Crap she knows whats going to happen so sad...I so wish I could have helped her...dog pounds should do more to help them all..

G

Sunday October 11, 2009, 7:47 am
Thanks Maria, tried to leave a comment twice...now I will just quickly say this is SO WRONG, IT SHOULD BE A CRIME AND THIS FACILITY SHOULD BE INVESTIGAGED AND HAVE CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST IT!!!

Sunday October 11, 2009, 7:51 am
NO WAY TO TREAT OUR ANIMALS, KNOWING YOU ARE GOING TO BE KILLING THEM, GIVE THEM SOME COMPASSION AND LOVE, DON'T JUST LEAVE THEM IN A ROOM ALL ALONE THEN DO YOUR DIRTY LITTLE DEED!

THIS IS A CRIME! THIS FACILITY SHOULD HAVE CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST IT! THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT WOULD VOLUNTEER THEIR TIME TO SPEND JUST A FEW HOURS WITH SOME OF THESE ANIMALS TO GIVE THEM -- WHAT WOULD MOST LIKELY BE THE ONLY AFFECTION AND COMPASSION THEY HAVE HAD THEIR ENTIRE LIFE.

TO BE TREATED LIKE THIS IS A "SIN"....COULDN'T FIND AN ADDRESS TO WRITE THIS FACILITY, THEY NEED TO BE FLOODED WITH LETTERS, A PETITION, WHATEVER, TO DO THIS TO ANY LIVING ANIMAL IS JUST ILL!!!

Sunday October 11, 2009, 9:06 am
THIS is starved and sickly pit bull potcake Lola. Just hours after this photograph was taken at the government dog pound ... she was killed.

Lola was one of 45 dogs collected by the canine control unit this week and euthanised yesterday morning in time for their carcasses to be collected by environmental health services for disposal, as they are every Friday.

Lola was one of tens of thousands of strays who roam the streets of Nassau without food, water or shelter, to their great suffering and at a risk to public health.

Staff at the canine control unit say their numbers are increasing as the poor economy and high rate of unemployment has left owners unable to care for their pets, and driven dogs away from their masters' homes.

Each week around 50 dogs and perhaps a dozen cats are collected in traps by some of the nine staff at the canine control unit government dog pound in an area of the Botanic Gardens, Chippingham.

The unwanted animals are locked in the 45 dark and tiny cement cells in pairs before their pitiful lives are brought to an end.

Legislation requires the animals to be kept alive for at least four days to give owners an opportunity to collect their pets, but as the majority of dogs are brought to the pound at their owner's will, it is an unlikely outcome for the poorly-treated pets.

Their dying days are spent crammed in a kennel, some with broken limbs, flesh wounds, mange, and if they are not already infested with ticks and fleas, they will be within 24 hours of staying at the pound.

A lack of funding, resources, and a body of staff a third of the size of what it should be, means the care for the dogs is minimal.

These wandering potcakes, pit bulls, and pit bull-mixes like Lola, have no space to roam. They rely on the food and rusty water provided twice a day by the supervisor and five wardens who run the dog pound.

Those who arrive at the pound suffering from serious injuries or illness are put to sleep almost immediately, as are motherless puppies never given a chance at life.

Freezes

Their bodies are stored in three deep freezes untll Friday morning before their bodies are collected and disposed of.

Criticisms of the inhumane way animals are treated at the pound have been highlighted in The Tribune since a 14-year-old visitor wrote to the newspaper to share with the public the horrors he had seen. A live dog locked in a kennel with a dead dog, faeces covering the floors of the kennels, and animals locked up without food and water.

His complaints sparked public outrage and the formation of an activist group demanding better conditions at the pound which now has more than 500 members.

But in the first ever public tour of the facility, The Tribune found it is the culture of cruelty to animals bringing dozens of neglected and poorly treated dogs and cats to the pound week after week.

When The Tribune visited the pound yesterday, supervisor Kirkland Glinton said the 45 dogs and seven cats collected this week, all killed yesterday, is average.

Department of Agriculture and Marine Resources veterinarian Godfrey Springer euthanises the animals with assistance from staff.

He said: "It's not easy for me as a vet to put animals to sleep but it's a public health issue; it's creating a risk to public health and as a country we have to remove the disease element from the population."

However their work has little impact on the number of stray dogs wandering throughout New Providence, as Dr Kirkland said as soon as 50 dogs are collected and killed, another 50 will be found wandering in the same areas the following week.

What is required is responsible animal ownership, Dr Springer said. He told The Tribune: "We have to create a culture of people who love animals.

"We need responsible animal ownership. Dogs are living things, they need to be fed and watered, and to be housed in a comfortable home. They need to be seen by a veterinarian at least twice a year.

"They should not be tied up so the rope around their neck cuts into their skin, and they should not be roaming into neighbours' yards or in the streets."

n What are your views on dog cruelty in the Bahamas? Who's to blame? And read more revelations next week.

Sunday October 11, 2009, 10:51 pm
Oh no this is so very sad! You can see this is one very unhappy Lola. But you know what she has now gone to a place of rest and where she will be loved and treated with respect the way she so longed for. This is sad to hear! RIP Lola..

Monday October 12, 2009, 1:41 am
Noted with tears for Lola and all the others who have to endure such sad lives with no loving homes. :( Thanks Maria.

Monday October 12, 2009, 8:40 am

How about taking this concept to its logical conclusion and asking, "Is this any way to treat other creatures, regardless of what species it is?" This is horrible, but remember that animals incacerated as "livestock" suffer much more - legally - every day and for no reason at all. Remember * them*, too, when become indignant about animal abuse.

Monday October 12, 2009, 9:26 am
Thanks Maria!
Noted!
I will scream this to the day I die!
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL NO KILL SHELTER!
OUTLAW BREEDING FOR 5-10 YEARS IN ORDER TO DRIVE UP ADOPTIONS!
IF PEOPLE REALLY WANT A DOG THAT BAD THEY SHOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH WHAT MY FAMILY DID TO GET A DOG.
A FULL BLOWN APPLICATION PROCESS.WHERE WE HAD TO ATTEND PET TRAINING WITH THE POTIENTALLY DOG.BE APPROVED THROUGH THREE!yAH,NOT ONE BUT 3 DIFFERENT PROFESSIONALS BEFORE GETTING OUR RESCUE DOG.
OUT LAW EXOTICS OF ANY KIND!
WHICH I HAVE A EXOTIC TORTISE BUT I GOT HIM YEARS BACK BEFORE FINDING OUT ABOUT ALL THE ABUSES HAPPENING AND THE DAMAGE DONE TO THE LOCAL ENVIROMENT IF EXOTICS ARE LET LOOSE.IE...PYTHONS AND BOAS IN FLORIDA.
Sorry for ranting ya'll.
This was upsetting to me.And I feel very strongly about the breeder thing and responible pet ownership.
Hey if any of you agree with what I just went off on.Contatc me and I will start a group for those things.

Have a good one

Monday October 12, 2009, 10:29 am
Animals should not be treated this way. Cats and Dogs desearve loving homes where they can get loads of attention and love. Unfortantly the Insurance compamys make it nearly impossibe to adopt someone like Lola because she is a Pitt Bull.

The moment they find out that you have a dog like her they will drop your insurance so fast and it is a shame.

Monday October 12, 2009, 1:43 pm
"Cats and Dogs desearve loving homes where they can get loads of attention and love. "

...cats and dogs AND birds AND fish AND gerbils AND....

In other words, we need to treat ALL creatures - regardless of species or their "status" - better. I make this point because every day, "livestock" animals are brutalized this very way, and worse and NO ONE CARES ABOUT THEM. That isn't right, either. We should be indignant about what happened to this dog. But we should also be willing to see as well that what we collectively do to OTHER creatures isn't moral or ethical, either.

Monday October 12, 2009, 4:13 pm
Through my tears for this poor dog and all the others, it is so wrong!!!! Look at her face she is so sad and frightened!!!

Monday October 12, 2009, 5:23 pm
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went."
~Will Rogers 1879 – 1935

“Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all – the apathy of human beings.”
~Helen Keller 1880-1968 My Religion, 1927 US blind & deaf educator

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing"
~Albert Einstein

Monday October 12, 2009, 5:58 pm
here's the group working to change the lives of the animals in the bahamas:
proudpaws.org
p.o.box ss6159
nassau, bahamas

Monday October 12, 2009, 7:54 pm
There is money to blast the moon for research purposes but no money to have safe havens for these animals who just want to be cared for in a humane manner. Evidently we cannot stop people from breeding animals for monetary gain or buying a pet for momentary excitement but we can have stricter purchase laws and follow ups with more no-kill shelters and certainly when a stray is taken in they should be kept for much longer in hopes of an adoption.
We must also have more awareness through education in our schools. We have laws against animal abuse but they don't seem to be enforced and penalties should be expanded by high fines and prison time.

Tuesday October 13, 2009, 1:40 am
This is just so wrong. Every one of these animals deserved to be given a second chance of life, and with a little love and attention (and some medical care) they could have at least ended their days in dignity and without suffering.

Tuesday October 13, 2009, 3:26 am
So, the richer the sicker, the governments should help animals in these circumstances, circumstances that are not going to make them lose at all, besides the owners are cowards and don't get together to solve this horrible situation, I couldn't go to sleep thinking about my sweet animal being killed because I couldn't do anything about it!! We are so used to not look for solutions, this has to stop! Shame on them! Poor Lola and the rest of sweet pets, that first die heartbroken, the rest you know or you can imagine... They throw away money on stupid crap, investing on it great amounts for them. This has to stop right away.

Tuesday October 13, 2009, 5:55 am
rest in peace potcake and many thousand more..

Thursday October 15, 2009, 9:11 am
Poor Lola :( Unfortunately this is the fate of too many animals. At least Lola was “humanly” killed. This happens every day but MUCH MUCH worse to animals we call “food”. The conditions they are kept in, the feces they are fed, and the mutilation they are subjected to before they are killed is beyond words. Why we care about doing this to our dogs but not any other animals remains a mystery to me. Go vegan and help end the suffering of ALL animals.

Friday October 16, 2009, 10:44 am
this is disgusting.