74.7 F
Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesTO END ANIMAL ABUSE, BEGIN WITH THE VERY YOUNG

TO END ANIMAL ABUSE, BEGIN WITH THE VERY YOUNG

Dear Source,
I have written many letters about animal abuse and neglect and many on the subject of dog fighting. I love to see that I am not the only one who hates all that crap. I was sad and yet happy when the government found that yard on St. Croix. (See "Animal advocates Abuse must be made a felony".) There are many private ones on St. Thomas.
It is important to really try to rearrange the mentality of people toward animals both in the V.I. and on the mainland. I wrote a letter last year to the President of the United States and got a half-ass response from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
A lot of what [Attorney General Iver] Stridiron said is true — about how if laws are tighter, the whole dog fighting thing will only go more underground. Guns, drugs and dogs: Those men have guns and will not hesitate to use them. There will need to be enforcement by practically being "Big Brother," what with enforcing licenses by inspections and getting a real hold on spaying and neutering, all the way up to monitoring what animals come and go to the islands.
Some states have counties that regulate the actual breeds of animal allowed, and in some, if a dog is even a quarter pit bull, it is banned.
Good to know that some of the senators are against dog fighting. And, in my opinion, whoever is not against it is for it, because they are. You would be horrified to know who is involved with that. They should be scared, though. Attending a dog fight, as well as training and fighting dogs, is a felony. So in just going — it is supposed to be against the law.
The teaching of young people needs to begin, to get it into the heads of the very young not only to be kind but to stop their own people from being rude and unkind and abusive. In other words, try to clean up whoever is already an adult, but train and instill love for animals in the new adults-to-be so that they actually hate animal abuse and will not accept it from each other. Most especially from boys.
Really, the only one who can stop a 9-year-old West Indian boy from doing something is another 9-year-old West Indian boy. I mean a gang of girls could get on it, but I am not sure it would work. If there was a gang of seven "M.C.'s," then yes, I'd go in myself. But I would probably take some blows or a bullet. Then what could I do from there?
I say along with the dog fighting cleanup, other things should be cleaned up as well: Cock fighting. The race tracks. The tracks are too, too hard in the Virgin Islands. Maybe not as bad on St. Croix — there, they must deal with any animal they don't "want" anymore. You bring one in; you send one out first.. The whole "agriculture" thing.
Cows? For beef production? Bull—-! Those are fronts for "farmers" to get tax breaks. What kills me is the animal doesn't even have to be on the land for the owner to be given the break. So I can have one cow and get a break as a farmer for my private estate with the mansion on it because I have a starving cow over in Estate Carlton. There is no need for cow production on any of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
So I have all my issues at hand. If anyone wants to know my opinion and how to fix it all, just ask. Keep up the good writing. Please don't stop now. Let's get this cleaned up so I can go back home.
M.C. Rice
Bradenton, Florida

Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.