Dear Minister,
I write this letter to make a humble plea to you: to use your office to commence training of the members of the Guyana Police Force to deal with reports of animal cruelty and abuse throughout the length and breadth of this beautiful nation of ours.
Oftentimes we witness some of the vilest acts of cruelty meted out to animals, both companion and food animals, without any repercussion from the responsible authorities. Whenever a report is made, it either is not taken seriously, or not taken at all. I am inclined to believe that some of the officers are not au fait with the Animal Welfare Act of Guyana, while some are oblivious to its existence. When incidents of abuse are made public, and there is an abundance of public condemnation, only then are appropriate actions taken by the relevant authorities.
Abuse is abuse, irrespective of whether it’s an animal or human being abused. People who hurt animals don’t stop with animals; there is an established link between cruelty to animals and violence toward humans. Ample research backs up the finding that there is a direct link between acts of cruelty to animals and violence towards humans; this includes child abuse, domestic violence, elder abuse, and other violent behaviours.
A landmark 1997 study done jointly by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Northeastern University found that animal abusers are in fact five times as likely to also harm other humans.
Another study found that 16% of offenders started abusing animals, and graduated to violent crimes against humans. However, in many circumstances, offenders start by hurting other humans and then progressing to harming animals.
Both because animals themselves need protection and because of the link between cruelty to animals and cruelty to humans, violence against animals must be taken seriously under the law. No form of abuse should be tolerated in any society. Help us to help the voiceless.
With highest regards,
Anurama Ramgobin
