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It is unfortunate that animals have to suffer due to the irresponsibility of humans. Pet owners should be held responsible and accountable for the care and actions of their pets.
If a caretaker will not follow your instructions when you put your dog in his care, then you should not put your dog in that situation or get another caretaker that will follow your instructions.
A recent incident happened in Rhode Island where a ladies two dogs attacked a reporter. The lady owner was charged with felony assault. Having a felony on your record is definitely holding the owner responsible and accountable.

I just learned that Martin's, Pat Stiley's worker, black dog is the one who jumped on the man. I will find out if he has had his shots. Robert said he was holding Kitty Two and she barked but was contained. If these are not the fact please let me know.
Snoopy's Mom - can you call me? 622-9808

Harriette,
This is unacceptable and there is no excuse. The dog you own was off leash (at large in a public place) and has now bitten a person. This is no only against the law, it's dangerous. Saga HS will be investigating and gathering reports that we will take to the Police, SPTC and Magistrate in this matter. We will go to the Magistrate to seek fines, mandatory neuter and classification of your dog and any dog involved in this attack as vicious (biting a person). It will be up to the Magistrate if your dogs should be removed from your and your caretakers custody as you have not shown a willingness or ability to control or contain them on your property. This has gone on too long with your dogs terrorizing your neighbors and it will stop.

Coleen Creeden
Saga Humane Society, President

Power of magistrate to fine or order destruction of dogs.
-Whenever it appears to a magistrate on complaint being made to him under the Summary Jurisdiction Acts, that a dog is vicious or savage, whether to animals or human beings, or likely to spread any disease or, by reason of its habit of persistent barking or for any other reason, is a nuisance, the magistrate may order the owner of the dog to keep it under proper control or in such a manner that it shall not be a nuisance, or may order the owner to destroy the dog.
• Every person who fails to comply with such order shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ten dollars $10BZ for each day or part of a day during which the order has not been complied with.
o Prohibition on allowing dogs to be at large-
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, no owner of a dog shall permit that dog to be at large in any street or place of public resort in any town and any person who contravenes this section is guilty of an offence and is, on summary conviction, liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars $100BZ.
Power to seize dogs in certain cases.-
That dog may be seized by any police officer or dog catcher and the owner of the dog shall in cases (a), (b) and (c) be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars: $25 BZ. Provided that a person shall not be convicted under paragraph (a) if he proves that no licence is required in respect of the dog.
• Whenever a dog is seen in a town, on a highway or in a place of public resort in any of the following cases-
(a)not having a collar with a licensing badge for the current year attached thereto; or
(b)Dogs appearing to be a stray or ownerless dog; or
(c)being a bitch in heat and being neither led nor carried; or
(d)suffering from any contagious disease and not being carried; or
(e)suffering from any disease or injury which causes pain to the dog and being neither led nor carried,

Harriet it is common knowledge that YOU have a history of not keeping your dogs under control. Several of your dogs have died either by violence because they were attacking and/or menacing people, and by poisoning for the same reason! Wake up! YOU are responsible for the damage your dogs do. Financially and otherwise. At this juncture, I perceive you to be an equal menace to the community. You have repeatedly failed and refused to keep your dogs on your property under your control. Blaming your caretaker??? Beyond. You are responsible for the medical costs associated with the gentleman whom your dogs attacked. Plain and simple. Further, you should be reported to the authorities for your serial unlawful behavior and quite frankly, animal abuse. Putting your dogs in harm's way and in the position to harm others. Shame on you. Step up this time.

Some Like it Hot. Yet another anonymous poster with nothing to add except complaints and a clear lack of knowledge. There is no such thing as an 'unpredictable animal'. All animals, including humans,are absolutely predictable, unless there is an underlying organic disorder caused by illness.

What makes you think I care so much about all of these dogs (which of course by emphasising in capital letter makes it so much more definitive)? What I care about is solutions to community problems and what I get annnoyed at is whiners who complain but offer no solutions.

If you are so concerned about all of 'these animals' perhaps you could contribute to a solution rather than rant, in a way that clearly indicates your lack of knowledge of the subject or anything constructive you might have to add, anonymously on a message board.

You clearly have an issue with dogs, but are unwilling to participate in solving the problem. Please do assist men and women struggling to feed their families, but perhaps, if this is an issue close to your heart, also contribute towards sex education and contraception to help with preventing that problem. Having children you cannot afford to feed or care for is by far a much more serious problem than stray dogs.

People who complain constantly, demonstrate their absolute ignorance of a subject, become hysterical about it and then try to justify their lack of contribution to the solution are not the sort of people Belize really needs. Good luck to you though. I'm sure your post on this issue, anonymously on this message board, will do a great deal towards solving the issue you clearly care so much about.

Oh and the really interesting thing to note is that intelligent people, with compassion and empathy, don't differentiate between helping the community in one way more than another. Most people who have concerns about animals on San Pedro and who really want to improve things rather than just complain, contribute their time and money. Those same people also contribute to many other important causes including the Lions Club, San Pedro AIDS Commission, San Pedro Cancer Society, San Pedro Polyclinic and may other important causes.

I stand by my statements. Put up or shut up. If you are not happy with something here, do something to make it better. If you are unwilling to do that and be part of the solution, then, yes, please shut up because there are wonderful, conscientious, hard working and generous people working hard on the island to find solutions and quite frankly, your unhelpful comments are a boring and unwanted distraction.

Blah,blah,blah.Funny,I'm a supporter of a number of the organizations you list.What is your solution? I'm not sure I've read one from you. Is volunteering at SAGA going to solve the problem? I suppose any comment that doesn't embrace feral dogs is unhelpful,boring and a distraction. I notice in another thread you are down right ebullient that a missing dog was reunited with it's owner. I didn't see where you said that the owner should be fined or any action against them. Perhaps that would be a start?

Volunteering and contributing to SAGA is a solution for problem dogs. There are very few feral dogs on Ambergris Caye. Almost none. Perhaps you don't understand what 'feral' means in terms of dogs.

I'm delighted that you contribute to and volunteer for the SP AIDS Commission, the SP Cancer Society, SAGA Humane Society, SP Poly Clinic and the Lions Club. That is wonderful and I'm sure your generous donations of time and money are greatly appreciated.

Volunteering for organisations that work towards change, certainly does contribute towards change. Funnily enough, I saw SAGA volunteers out trapping dogs today. Was that you I saw on the back of the golf cart?

Given that they receive no government funding and depend wholly on the contributions of the public, they do an amazing job and the problem of stray and latch key dogs in San Pedro is pretty minimal compared to most places - anywhere in the world. As stated previously though, it is recognised, that the land from whence you originate is perfect and I know it must be hard to live with the fact that San Pedro does not meet your high standards, but hey - please do feel free to shut the gate on your way home to perfection.

But of course, you have never spent any time in Belize City, so have no idea what achievements have been made by SAGA, because you haven't a clue about Belize, which is evident in every word of your claptrap.

You seem to mistake the fact that people are not perfect and that sometimes pets go missing with actual crime. Of course I can see how easy it is to be confused by the two. I'd try to help you get a perspective on this, but I suspect that your obsession with dogs (oooh ....packs of mangy feral dogs waiting around every corner, to attack you and infect you with their feral ways) means that perspective of any sort is beyond your reach.

Again, I beseech you to find somewhere that can provide you with the sort of life that you feel you should become accustomed to. But what Belize does not need is whining foreigners who complain about Belize constantly. Not only is it an embarrassment to those of us who actually moved here because we love Belize, but it is completely illogical. Don't the people from whence you came want you back? One would think that with all of your well informed contributions to society, they would be begging for your return.

Saga HS has been continuing the round ups of stray dogs on the streets of San Pedro and surrounding areas that were began in July 2012. As of April 2013 Saga HS had picked up 231 stray or roaming dogs, 130 of those dogs were euthanized and 47 returned to their owners. A more troubling trend is the increasing rate of owner surrenders at our clinic, 441 for the same time period, of which a lucky 202 animals were adopted. The large number of surrenders illustrates that animals breeding in private homes are a significant part of the problem of animal over population on the island.

Maintaining a shelter will not on its own solve pet overpopulation problems in the long term. In fact it may make it worse, as it provides an easy route for pet owners to dispose of their animals rather than thinking about providing for them. 60% of the animals we take in are surrendered by owners who throw them away like yesterday's boring toy. Abandoned without a second thought. A shelter attempts to deal with the effects of animal overpopulation but does nothing to address the cause.

Saga HS is trying to solve problems not of our creation, with sometimes very little support from the very community we are helping. It has come to be that people associate any barking, biting or any dog incident as a responsibility of Saga, when actually it's the fault the dog owners. They automatically think it is our responsibility to fix the problem. We are not a government agency and government does not fund us at all. We're a registered NGO, non-profit animal welfare organization, not a dog pound, not the pooper scooper patrol. But we end up doing what is technically the government and law enforcement's responsibility. Last year we spent $10,000 on dog round ups and euthanasia of those animals, which will have no long term impact on overpopulation. All the money used was donated funds with no re-imbursements from government.

The fact is that simply rounding up more dogs and cats and killing them would cost more in the long run, than spaying or neutering them now, and preventing the unwanted births in the first place. That is why we have introduced Operation SNIP (Spay/Neuter Initiative Program) with the goal of sterilizing 75% of the Island's pet population in 3-5 years. Saga HS is working towards a goal of having low/no cost spay neuter available AT ALL TIMES. This year we are committed to raising $50,000 for Operation SNIP to fund 1,000 free spay/neuters. We have already sterilized 205 animals this year toward our goal. The good news is, we are an island - if we also monitor and control the number of animals being born in back yards or brought in from external sources (like people selling puppies on the island from the mainland), we can make an impact and achieve the desired goals!

Going forward the owned intact dogs we do round up, we will sterilize and vaccinate them if they are at large in a public place. They will be then returned to their owners, with a free Operation SNIP collar and warning about having their dogs at large in a public place. Owners will not always happy with our efforts to sterilize and vaccinate their dogs or cats. Until owners follow the law and contain their animals within their yards, we will continue to find them and SNIP them.

I hope this has been informative. Saga Humane Society is committed to serving the needs of our community in the most humane and effective way. We are bringing world class solutions to the table and working hard to effect change. We welcome calls, emails, and visitors and will answer all questions. Call or stop by the clinic Tuesday through Saturday 226-3266 or saga@btl.net. Operation SNIP

Coleen Creeden
President
Saga Humane Society

Harriett, please properly fence your property. You refuse to properly train and socialize your animals and they have suffered the consequences; and now someone has been injured due to your lack of responsibility. Please fence your property and keep your dogs within the fence.

I agree with you "Nobody You Know" I come to the island 2-3x's a year, was just there recently, and noticed alot more stray dogs than our trip before. Sorry for all of the rudeness you're receiving.