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| Livestock owned by Catharina Tweede of Harris' (Photo by Erasmus Williams) |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, FEBRUARY 28TH 2006 - Praedial larceny and the destruction of livestock by stray dogs continue to pose a problem for local farmers and government is promising to take tough measures to stamp out the problem.
During the visit to local farms last week, farmers complained to Prime Minister, Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas and Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Cedric Liburd and other officials, that their livestock and crops were being stolen.
One livestock farmer, Catherina Tweede of Harris' complained that she recently lost 44 sheep and goats over a two week period, 22 of them due to attacks by stray dogs and a similar number by persons, who may have stolen the sheep and goats to feed pit bulls and other dogs.
Prime Minister Douglas said his Government will not allow the crop and livestock farmers to suffer loss of earnings and a secure livelihood as a result of praedial larceny.
"I therefore want to use this opportunity to bring assurance to the framers, especially the livestock farmers that we shall do everything within our power to ensure that the law is applied to safe guard their flocks. Sometime ago, the government discussed in great details, legislation with regards to dogs; a lot of people in the country did not understand. Some people were thinking that government is (only) trying to raise revenue by taxing dogs, but I have seen the agony of the farmers this morning. Every farmer who we visited this morning (and) who have livestock has spoken about the mass destruction of their flock by dogs. The government has to do something about it and the government will do something about it," said Prime Minister Douglas.
Several farmers also complained about the lack of support from the police when they report that their crops have been stolen.
"We will do what is absolutely necessary and within our power to protect the farmers and their crops. I want to make a special appeal to the police not to disregard the farmers when they complain about people who are persistently and consistently stealing their crops and having the audacity to go into our towns and villages and sell those produce when we know that they are not buying from any farmer, they don't have any farms themselves, yet they are seen everyday selling produce on our streets. The police must become more vigilant and I would want to ask for greater cooperation and collaboration between the police and the farmer to arrest this particular problem," said Prime Minister Douglas.
