Dead animals by the road, a serious situation

DeDead animals by the road, a serious situation
december 3, 2010Print
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The daily disgrace of passing near a dead animal by the road and watching its process of decomposition has become an habitual, sad case for tourists on our island. According to Cindy Badano, Animal Rights Special Committee President, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company loses around $15 million yearly on tourists who actively boycott visiting the island or deny going back to such a pitiful scenario.
In a public hearing held Thursday by the Natural and Environmental Resources Committee, presided by or the district of Humacao senator, Luz M. Santiago González, the strongest point of discussion was whose responsibility is it to offer orientation on how to comply with Law 154 (Law for the Well-being and Protection of Animals), which was signed on Aug. 4, 2008. The committee is currently investigating if and how well municipalities and government agencies are complying with this law.
According to Badano, this law has been internationally availed by The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals as one of the most progressive ones concerning this topic. The animal protector maintains that the responsibility of removing dead animals from the road belongs to the municipalities.
Answering the concerns of animal protectors, Jesús Vázquez, Spokesman for the Health Dept. assigned to the State Office for Animal Control, said that they have oriented around 5,000 law enforcement agents on how to deal with the situation.
However, this job is not even close to the demand of cases generated on the island. Vázquez said that they are still in need of an effective protocol regarding the management of abused animals recovered by the Police.
“It’s not that easy... we need help from the Police Superintendent and community groups. We need a critical number of people to multiply until we get to the point where we want to be,” said the government official. The protocol draft was begun in 2008.
Ana María Hernández, Spokeswoman for the Animal Rights National Organization, specified that Law 242 of August 30, 2000, assigns the State Office for Animal Control $1.5 million in funds to be employed in encouraging municipalities and bona-fide private entities through subventions. With these funds, proposals directed toward stray animals’ rescue, control and adoption processes could be developed, in addition to having shelters and offering education to members of the community.
According to Vázquez, even though municipalities have the responsibility of presenting proposals to the State Officer for Animal Control, only six or seven municipalities assisted to the last meeting.
Sen. Santiago González emphasized the importance of knowing which municipalities comply with the requirements and equipment necessary to receive these subventions favoring a permanent structure. To this argument, the spokesman answered that “there are municipalities such as Carolina, whose Municipal Police unit helps by offering talks to San Juan and state police officers.”
As evidence during the hearing, Puerto Rico suffers from a lack of education concerning the extent of both laws concerning animal rights. Citizens as well as government officials lack a uniform protocol to follow, and there is no special fund to defray the costs of dealing with abused animals.

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