Garth Rattray | A functioning JSPCA keeps us safe

I vividly recall the days when the Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (JSPCA) was on Spanish Town Road. Just about anyone who had a pet either knew of or went to the JSPCA. It was, and remains the go-to place for anything to do with any animal.

It was founded in 1903 and has had many locations. Aside from Spanish Town Road (where it had been from 1943 to 1999), it has been located at King Street, Constant Spring Road, and now at its current location at Winchester Road. However, there has been a long-standing problem with its location. We knew that the Winchester Road premises was not permanent. Despite the essentiality of its existence, the JSPCA has always been plagued with funding and issues with having a safe location.

Managing Director of the JSPCA, Pamela Lawson, said that the organisation is in big trouble (I’m paraphrasing). The owners of the Winchester Road property (and the adjoining Lot), the Betting Gaming Lotteries Commission, sold the properties to the National Health Fund (NHF). So now, the JSPCA must move immediately, in fact it should have moved three months ago.

In a Gleaner article of September 7, Lawson related that a relocation site has been identified at the Ministry of Agriculture (at the Hope Gardens).

Lawson told the press that the architectural designs are in the works. However, “the site is currently overgrown, uneven, and prone to flooding. It also contains sinkholes, complicating development”. She explained that preparing the 1.5-acre site for JSPCA’s needs will require a huge investment. She likened it to moving the Kingston Public Hospital. There is a $200M estimate, but it does not take into account “transporting equipment, medicines, and hundreds of dogs, cats, rabbits, and other animals currently in its care”. There are over 500 animals in its care.

NATIONAL DISGRACE

The way that the government has treated the JSPCA has led to the current conundrum in which the JSPCA finds itself. The situation was [rightly] dubbed, by Dr Blossom O’Meally-Nelson, chair of the Animal Welfare Advocacy Group (AWAG), as a “national disgrace”. She urged immediate government intervention and went on to say that the situation reflects badly on Jamaica internationally.

The JSPCA is a non-governmental organisation with an annual budget of about $150M. However, the government only gives it $25,000 per month. This, although the organisation removes up to 1,500 strays from the streets of Kingston and St. Andrew weekly. It takes strays (including the aggressive and sick ones) from public hospitals, police operations, and tourist areas. The JSPCA’s costs sometimes run around $2.5M or $3M weekly. To achieve all of this, the JSPCA funding mostly comes from donations and income from its veterinary clinic services.

The president of the Jamaica Veterinary Medical Association, Dr Kathy Ann Leon, openly expressed her fear of any disruption to the JSPCA’s services. She is quoted as saying, “The service at the JSPCA is very complete; it competes with some of the premier private clinics in Jamaica. The services are wide and varied, and the technical experts there are well educated in their crafts.” She reminded us that the JSPCA has always given “young vets a launching pad and exposure for their careers after leaving school.”

Aside from its base, the JSPCA has a mobile clinic. The services listed are veterinary clinic services, a pet adoption programme, animal shelter, animal rescue, investigation of reports of cruelty to animals, community service outlet, surgeries, volunteer service, educational outreach, spay/neuter services, and community outreach clinics.

The JSPCA has been an advocate in appropriately amending our Cruelty to Animals Act, so that being cruel to animals will result in harsh enough penalties to deter would be lawbreakers who cause pain and suffering to animals. The organisation is also very involved in racetrack and riding establishments, and the abattoirs.

ABOUT US

Most importantly, what most people fail to realise is that the JSPCA is not just about the [lower] animals, it is also about us. Without the JSPCA, you and I would be at risk for several health problems. All life is interrelated; this is especially true of animal life. There is an interconnectedness of our health, the health of animals, plants and our shared environment. This is the One Health concept.

One Health involves several health-related disciplines – human healthcare disciplines, veterinary medicine, public health, environmental science, and agriculture. These all work in unison to combat zoonotic (animal to human) diseases, infections in general, antimicrobial resistance (which is an extremely serious threat likened to an imminent apocalypse), and environmental contamination.

You can’t separate human health, from animal health, plant health, and environmental wellbeing. This principle is deservedly gaining recognition internationally and here in Jamaica. It transcends all sectors of society. In fact, Jamaica has a very active One Health organisation, of which I am a part. The only approach to global health is through the One Health principle.

Therefore, the JSPCA is not only about the treatment and care of our pets, rounding up stray animals, the prevention of cruelty to animals, legislative advocacy for animal rights, the further training of young doctors of veterinary medicine, food security, the neutering programs, and the adoption of animals, the JSPCA is directly involved in and influences the health of every human being.

The government, through the Ministry of Health, needs to intervene and channel funding for the continued viability and functionality of the JSPCA.

Garth Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice, and author of ‘The Long and Short of Thick and Thin’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com.