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Pit-bull pups narrowly miss being euthanized
– owners upset over Livestock Development’s treatment
Some dog owners have expressed their dissatisfaction with the treatment meted out to them by members of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority last week. According to Conrad Gomes, the owner of four pit-bull pups, he almost lost his dogs as they barely escaped being euthanized.
He said that on Tuesday a colleague, Mr. Clive Patterson, transported four pit-bull pups from the Mazaruni district to the Eugene Correia International Airport, Ogle, using an aircraft attached to the Correia Group of Companies.
Patterson yesterday said that after arriving at the airport, the customs department informed him that the pups needed to be cleared by a veterinarian. However, he was still allowed to leave with the animals without this ever happening.
The pit-bull pups which were detained
Dog Owner, Conrad Gomes (Centre) flanked by his colleagues, Clive Patterson (left) and Steve
Gomes, who is a miner in Mazaruni, said that the dogs were birthed at his camp since he owns a number of adult pit-bull dogs for security purposes. He said that he sent the dogs to Georgetown to give them away to his friends.
He said that the pilot who flew the aircraft transporting the dogs called him around 17:00hrs on Tuesday to inform him that he needed to have the dogs returned to customs for the vet, Marlan Prince, to examine them.
Gomes said that he took back the dogs and was informed that they would be quarantined at the GLDA’s office at the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara.
The owner said that he was confused by the ordeal. He said that he was advised to visit the Sparendaam Police Station to query the matter. However, even while there he could not be given an answer since the situation seemed to be strange to the officers present.
According to Gomes, he was informed by the vet that if the pups are being moved from one region to another, they need to be documented.
Kaieteur News contacted the vet yesterday for a comment but the man chose not to speak on the issue, saying that it would be best that a comment is had through his superiors.
Based on documentation provided by the owner of the dogs, the four pups were held at the entity’s quarantine station from November 22 to November 24, because the authorities were doubtful as to whether the animals were bred in Guyana and since there were no documents to prove their origin. Until the origin could have been proven, the dogs were kept at the facility for two days.
Gomes said that he was asked to bring the mother of the pups to the GLDA to prove that they were born in Guyana. He said that he was given an ultimatum to bring the mother by 13:00hrs on Thursday or the pups would have been put down.
A friend of the owner, Steve, in an effort to stall the killing of the pups, went to the GLDA office at Mon Repos with a lawyer, while simultaneously, the handler Mr. Patterson was attempting to get the mother out of Mazaruni to reunite with the pups.
He said that after being reunited, the pups immediately began suckling, which apparently was enough proof to have the dogs released.
The three dog lovers said that they were completely upset by the attitude meted out to them by the GLDA officials and their haste to have the dogs killed. Steve said that the camp is not located near a border area, so it is unlikely that the dogs could have been imported.
According to documentation, the reasons for the dogs being detained were given as arriving at the airport without documentation, the questionable health status of the animals and as a mitigating measure against the spread of disease.
Gomes was made to pay $40,000 to the GLDA for the four days the dogs were in quarantine. He said that it is the first time that he has ever found himself in this situation and it is not the first occasion he has transported dogs from his camp to Georgetown.
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