Cup Match may mean emancipation for humans, but for some pets it often brings nothing but misery and abandonment.
“Generally summertime tends to be very busy for animals being brought in,” said Dr. Charles Whited, Inspector at the SPCA.
However the Cup Match holiday, he added, “starting from the Wednesday through to the Monday, is when most of it comes to light.”
Cup Match may mean emancipation for humans, but for some pets it often brings nothing but misery and abandonment.
“Generally summertime tends to be very busy for animals being brought in,” said Dr. Charles Whited, Inspector at the SPCA.
However the Cup Match holiday, he added, “starting from the Wednesday through to the Monday, is when most of it comes to light.”
A lot of people adopt animals for Christmas presents or during the cooler months, he said. Then the Cup Match holiday rolls around and suddenly people have forgotten to arrange for someone to care for their pets while they head off the Island or go camping.
They call the SPCA to see if the animals can be boarded there, Dr. Whited said, however there is no room at the SPCA, which already this year has a waiting list of 38 dogs and 15-20 cats to be brought in.
Pet owners seem to tend towards one of three solutions. The first, said Dr. Whited, is to simply abandon their pets at the SPCA. “They come in at odd hours or after hours, and just tie them to the gate and leave them.”
The second method is to leave the unsupervised animals (dogs especially) tethered at home while the owners go camping, planning to return regularly to feed and water them. As the owners often find themselves, for whatever reason, unable to return as planned, the SPCA then gets calls from worried and irate neighbours about the abandoned pets.
“I have to go and feed and water them myself,” said Dr. Whited. If, after feeding the animal several times, he sees that the owner still has not been back to care for their pet, Dr. Whited takes the animal himself to the SPCA.
The third method that pet owners use to “provide” for their pets over the Cup Match holiday is to get someone else to come and care for their animal.
However, the people they choose at such short notice are often irresponsible, and Dr. Whited gets called in again to save the day.
Dr. Andrew Madeiros, chairman of the SPCA, also recalls such instances. He added a fourth method: People giving their pets up for adoption at the shelter, claiming that they are unable to care for the animal any longer. Those same people then turn up a week later looking for a “new” pet to adopt.
There are repercussions for this sort of behaviour. “If it can be proven that the animal has suffered as a result of their actions, they will be charged (with cruelty to animals),” said Dr. Whited. “We have zero tolerance for that sort of thing.
People need to plan well in advance for their pets, he warned, “not within the week.”.
He added that if people plan on asking someone else to care for their pet, that person must be responsible. “If they are not comfortable leaving their children with these people,” he said, “then they shouldn’t be leaving animals with them either.”
By Sarah Titterton The Royal Gazette