Overwhelming response to the woman and the dogs
Dear Editor,
In response to my letter concerning the photo of the woman with the three chained dogs which appeared on your front page on April 30, we are pleased to say that we received an overwhelming response from your readers — 29 e-mails and telephone calls.
Many of these people said that they have viewed this situation for a long time and had tried to do something to right it themselves without success. Others provided us with the location where we can find the woman and these dogs and wished us luck in helping them.
A few people disagreed with the majority and expressed the view that there was nothing wrong with the dogs being chained together. They felt that the woman should be left alone to treat her dogs as she wished since they were her “protection” (how the dogs could protect anyone chained together baffles me, I must admit).
Although everyone is entitled to their own opinion, this view flies in the face of international standards of acceptable treatment of animals. I doubt very much if any of the other dissenters would enjoy being chained to two other people — I certainly wouldn’t. And as for the suggestion by a couple of people that instead of wanting to give the dogs freedom (as all of God’s creatures are entitled to) we give the woman leashes and food to feed the dogs… why, might I ask, have they not done this themselves if they think it is such a good idea?
Finally, one person who wrote to us said that both the woman and the dogs need help and perhaps he is right. Again, why is it that those who criticise our concern for the animals have not helped this lady over the many years that she has been living what appears to be a very nomadic and unsettled lifestyle?
Maureen Sheridan
The Animal House Jamaica
info@theanimalhousejamaica.org