Opinion: Goat situation needs to addressed in a humane way

Dear Editor,

The other day, a beautiful quiet afternoon was unusually disturbed by the sudden loud cry of a goat badly hurt and in severe distress.

It was an unusual sound and the sound did not stop. A cry for help, which went on for about ten minutes.

The sound was loud and heart ranching and in total contrast to the usual calm Saba is known for.

It brought me out of the house looking in the direction of the sound and at that moment, I saw a neighbor coming down from his house and coming back with a goat, which had been caught in one of the goat traps he laboriously set at the end of the sloping land.

Existing local laws may have given property owners the right to kill goats found on one’s property but the government should also consider passing animal cruelty laws protecting wild animals from the inhumane ways of catching a goat for the kill.

The length of time this animal had to suffer before it was finally taken out of the leg clamp or other restrictive device it was caught in was reprehensible and inhumane and such practice should not be allowed on Saba. The way animals are trapped should be tightly controlled by the Saba Government and the way the animal is kept after being caught and until killed should also be controlled by local laws.

The picture shows the goat after it was released from the trap. It is shown attached to a tree by a 2 foot length rope, giving the animal no possible way to move for hours until the final kill.

I think this is ample proof that culling the goat population should not be allowed by individual Saban land owners but should be left to the local government of Saba to handle in as humane a fashion as possible.

The morale of the story: When a goat kill has to occur, it should be done in a humane way and not, as I witnessed, by people who do not hold any respect for the rights of animals.

Name withheld on request