Animal awareness group aims to better serve community

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – OFFICERS of People for Animal Welfare on St. Kitts (PAWS) recently stated that the club is seeking to deepen its involvement in the St. Kitts community in 2009 through a number of initiatives. 

PAWS is a non-profit animal welfare advocacy group that was started in 2000 by a number of students attending the Ross University, School of Veterinary Medicine to help animals on St. Kitts be “given love and proper care, and to try and decrease the overwhelming population of unwanted animals”.

While the programme has successfully adopted out countless stray animals to students and Kittitians alike since its inception, officers of the club have stated that the time has come for them to expand their community outreach beyond simple adoptions.
“It’s not just about the adoptions. Certainly it is nice when we are able to adopt out, but we are also looking to build greater education in the community and bridge the gap so people can better understand what we are trying to do,” Foster Coordinator Anna Whitehead said. 

PAWS President Lauren Deahl detailed the myriad problems caused by stray animals and ways in which PAWS is attempting to deal with these issues for the betterment of St. Kitts.  

“One of the most important things that we require is that all of our animals be spayed or neutered. We think that this is very important for all animals whether they come through PAWS or not. It is best for their health and for the community,” she said.

By not spaying and neutering animals, Deahl explained that female dogs are 200 times more likely to be affected by certain types of cancer, animals would be more aggressive toward people and an unrestrained stray population would increase the amount of diseases and parasites that could spread to people. 

To help reduce the stray animal population in St. Kitts, the PAWS officers said their efforts to provide education opportunities would be redoubled in 2009. 

“We’re looking to help people if they feel like they are having trouble keeping their animal or if it has a medical problem. They are free to call us or email and we will work with them as best we can to try and help them further the life of their animal.
“We also want to know more about what the community needs, because then we can start moving toward what would help them better,” Whitehead said. 

To this end, PAWS has a goal of becoming a part of this year’s National Agriculture Fair, as well as participate in any community event aimed toward children and the public at large. 

Furthermore, persons interested in learning more about PAWS, adopting an animal or arranging a spay or neuter operation may attend the upcoming Adoption Day this Saturday (July 4) at Ross University from 10:00 a.m-2:00 p.m., or contact an officer through their website, http://www.freewebs.com/rosspaws/. 

“We want to be able to assist people who have questions about things like what kind of dog food to get, where to get food at, what vaccines need to be provided or how to get their animal spayed or neutered. 

“The cost of spaying or neutering your animal is going to be much less than any medical cost that could arise later in the animal’s life from not doing it, and it is our goal to help the community do these kinds of things,” Deahl stated.