On the morning of Wednesday September 27th witnesses saw a 10 week old puppy (Island Girl) being dumped out of a car and witnessed the driver deliberately run her over and then unsuccessfully tried to back up on her. A bystander picked her up and took her to a local gas station before the driver could succeed in killing her. As shocking as this is it is not an anomaly, it happens in Antigua on a regular basis. Dogs and Cats of Antigua (an animal rescue organization) have reported numerous cases of dog poisoning with actual evidence, a hit and run case where license plate numbers were provided, even the macabre case where a farmer chopped up 4 dogs and we had his taped confession. Yet no one has ever been prosecuted for a single case of animal abuse.

Antigua has bold new plans for our economic future but archaic attitudes towards animal cruelty.  We need to protect the most vulnerable among us. We have animal protection laws on our books and they need to be enforced. Please sign this petition and tell Prime Minister Gaston Browne, Attorney General Cutie Benjamin, Minister Arthur Nibbs and Commissioner Wendell Robinson: Animal cruelty is not OK and should not be tolerated.  “Enforce our laws – proscute animal abusers”

If animals abusers were prosecuted and faced heavy fines and/or prison if convicted, it would send a strong message of deterrence and go a long way in keeping our animals safe.