Dear Editor

see images for coconut dog in cruelty page

On May 30, 2007, based on a tip about a dog locked in a small chicken pen, GSPCA Inspector, Colin Piper, was going to a village on the East Coast. I was on my way to Ogle (to pick up some unwanted vicious dogs) and asked GSPCA for backup; the administrator agreed to send Mr. Piper with me to the location, in my vehicle, but first he had to complete the “cruelty report;” I volunteer to take him, since we were heading in the same direction.

We had a difficult time finding the place but after many cell calls to Pat, the woman who made the report, we arrived. We were greeted by 7 tail-wagging puppies and a vicious mother dog.  Pat did not want all the puppies and asked if we could help her stop her female dog from producing. I promised her I would look into the matter. We put her puppies in a large cat kennel and loaded it into my vehicle.

Pat then took the Inspector and I into the yard where, according to her, a dog had been locked in the chicken pen for the past 3 years. She said the person who owns the dog lives in the same house she does and since he is extremely abusive she dare not say anything to him about the animal for he would likely explode.

Unless you are actively involved in animal rescue, you never know the extent of the pain and misery humans put animals through!

We were taken to a very filthy area inside a chicken yard and told to look inside a small wooden pen. I was reminded of the pictures I had seen of Jewish prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp at the end of World War II. The 3 years old dog I saw, supposedly of a good breed, was only the size of a 6-month old puppy. His hunched body was skin and bones with no hair. He was covered with mange and many spots were swollen from his constant biting and scratching.

According to Pat, the owner only fed the dog coconuts; after drinking the water he would split the shells and throw them to the dog inside the pen. This explained why the small pen seemed to have no floor, just piles of empty coconut shells. She said the dog survived by digging out and eating the coconut meat. His long claws had evolved into effective coconut scrapers.

The pen looked liked it had never been cleaned and when we used a pole to move some of the shells their undersides were seen to be teeming with ticks and fleas. The inspector and I, both totally emotional, knew we had to do something NOW!  We asked Pat if we could take the dog with us but she said, “No, that would bring BIG trouble for me, but the society should do something.

I went to my car, got out some food and put it on a Styrofoam plate. In a matter of seconds the food and part of the container disappeared. As the dog ate I gently stroked him on the back, he started to growl and then urinated from fear. When I stopped touching him he stopped urinating. I touched him again, softly, and he urinated immediately. I withdrew my hand and he stopped. God, what had this BASTARD-owner done to this dog. I took pictures as Inspector Piper asked for the whereabouts of the owner. Pat said he hung out in a rum shop not far from his home; she gave us directions and we went looking for this monster.  “George” was not at the rum shop but we met some of his drinking friends; one of them agreed to take us to his place of work.

It was an 8 minute drive to the “devil’s” work place. The Inspector and I agreed we must get him to sign the dog over to the GSPCA. Inspector Piper told George what we had seen and how terrible it was to make an animal suffer so much. George said he wanted to keep the dog, adding that some Vet was supposed to check it out. After 10 minutes of convincing, George finally signed the paper, turning the animal over to GSPCA. We implored George to burn the tick and flea ridden pen and to never own another animal he was unable to care for.

We went back to the pen of horrors. I took a cement sling from my car and looped it gently around the dog’s neck. I put on my gloves and lifted him out of his 3-year old nightmare. As we pulled on the sling around his neck it disturbed the fleas and ticks and a black shadow moved across his hairless body as the insects seemed to swarm. We quickly carried him to my vehicle, our clothes and hair becoming covered with ticks, but neither of us cared. We just wanted to give this poor animal a few moments of peace and quiet with a full stomach.

Our voiceless friend was euthanized later that day. May GOD cherish him and make for him a special place in his kingdom.

Speak out against cruelty, even if it is caused by your neighbour, friend or a family member. Make the call to the GSPCA at 226-4237.

Yours faithfully,

Syeada Manbodh

Animal Rights Activist

p.s. names were changed to protect the innocent and see images in cruelty to animals page