YIR Animal Cruelty

Tonight we continue to look back at 2017 and the stories we brought you. In 2017 there were a number of animal cruelty reports that made the headlines, Cayman 27’s Philipp Richter has more in this report.
In January, MLA Alva Suckoo announced his concerns on backyard breeders, saying they are abusing animals themselves.

“What I would like to see is that we have more responsible breeding and training, I know of incidents where people’s idea of training a dog is to beat it into submission or beat it until it breaks and becomes an attack dog, that is the complete opposite of what you should be doing,” said MLA Suckoo.

Two months later in March, a video surfaced of a man carrying an iguana on a string, there were calls of animal torture, the Department of Environment later reported that the animal had been dead.

Marcel Archer, a North Side man who was found with the carcasses of dead animals in his yard by Department of Agriculture Officers, was found guilty on four charges of animal cruelty and one charge of abandonment and sentenced to four months house arrest. Mr. Archer is not allowed to own any animals for two years.

In April a 32-year-old man from George Town was arrested for suspicion animal cruelty after a woman reported her small dog had been killed.

6 eagle rays were found mutilated after fisherman found the carcasses after the carcasses were inspected, there was no evidence of spear marks.
In May, a pregnant dog was set ablaze and a North Side teenager Andrie Challenger and his father James Challenger were charged with animal cruelty, their sentencing is scheduled for next year.

In June, a duo tried to smuggle a sugar glider into the Cayman Islands from Miami, but the animal escaped creating a scare on the plane, the pair is currently before the courts.

In August, a police officer shot a pit bull in the leg in West Bay, Police say three unleashed pit bulls aggressively charged at the officer, the incident is being investigated for breaches of the animal law. A dog that was brought to the humane society to be treated for chemical burns, after the owner attempted to remove external parasites from the skin and caused burns, the Department of Agriculture launched an investigation into the matter, the dog is said to be recovering.

If you suspect there is animal abuse or neglect happening in your area, please call the Department of Agriculture the number is on the screen.