29/05/2021
Update on the cruelty incident in Benque:
Friday morning we were contacted via Instagram by a family member that participated in the hanging of the dog. He is defending the action, stating that the dog attacked one of their lambs and had bitten people and attacked other people’s’ pets in the past. The person did not deny what happened, and in fact stated that neighbours agreed with them to “do what had to be done.” He sent us a picture of the dead dog with the rope around her neck and stated “The owners of the pit bull were ignorant and irresponsible for the dog’s actions and so the dog had to pay the price for their lesson to be learned.” He told us we should delete our “fake report” post and apologize and mind our own business.
We will not delete the post and we will not apologize. We posted for witnesses to an act that was described to us to step forward and go to the police, and we did not name this family - a courtesy they do not deserve.
Subsection 14(1) of the Belize Dog Act Chapter 153 states that “Whenever it appears to a magistrate on a complaint being made to him under the Summary Jurisdictions Acts, that a dog is vicious or savage, whether to animals or human beings...the magistrate may order the owner of the dog to keep it under proper control or in such a manner that it will not be a nuisance, or may order the owner to destroy the dog.” It is most certainly not a matter for private citizens to determine, or to carry out the torture of an animal to teach people a lesson. OF COURSE we are saddened if this dog was responsible for the deaths of other animals or for injuries to people. But this does not excuse what occurred.
Every dog owner in Belize is required under the Dog Act to keep their dog on their property or have it leashed or carried and under control at all times. Loose animals can be seized by any police officer in Belize. Should the pup have been running loose? Absolutely, unequivocally not. However, if this person’s claims are true, their lawful option once they had the dog tied and it was not a threat was to call the police and have them and a magistrate deal with the matter. Instead, they made a conscious decision to hang her to death. Section 6 of the Cruelty to Animals Act Chapter 115 states that “Any person who cruelly beats, ill-treats, over-drives, over-loads or tortures, or causes or procures to be ill-treated, beaten, overdriven, abused or tortured any animal is guilty of an offence...” and are liable to fines and to compensation to the owner or damages. We are pretty sure that hanging a dog is considered ill treating or torture.
Please learn your responsibilities as dog owners. Familiarize yourselves with both the Dog Act and Cruelty Act. We are providing links to the current acts here:
http://www.belizelaw.org/web/lawadmin/PDF%20files/cap153.pdf
https://sagahumanesociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Belize-Law-Cruetlty-to-animals-Act-Chapter-115.pdf
These acts have not been amended for over 20 years. We, along with the other Humane Societies in Belize, are working to have these laws upgraded and to increase the ridiculously small penalties they can apply.
We are disappointed that the witnesses to this act are refusing to file police reports as is the owner of the dead dog.
Her name was Fifi.
