If there is a court hearing for what happened, I would be the first on the witness stand to testify in front of the jurors and the judge. I would explain and demonstrate in detail what I witnessed with my own two eyes.
During the TT period, Saipan had a municipal police. If people didn’t have tags on their pets, the dogs would be put into cages. These cages were pulled by the municipal police jeep. They would go through all the villages looking for dogs that had no tags and capture them. The police would bring inmates to assist in this endeavor.
They would then drive down to the old dumping ground on Agingan Point with the dogs and throw them into the water one by one and start shooting the poor animals with their service pistols, just like a target practice.
The sharks were so happy because they had food to eat. I felt sorry for all those poor, innocent dogs. That’s the most terrifying incident I had ever encountered in my lifetime. I was only eight years old at the time, but that day will forever haunt me.
When they abolished the municipal police, the people were no longer required to obtain dog tags for their pets. All the dogs were allowed to roam free again.
Perhaps our mayor should assign personnel who can capture stray dogs and dogs without tags. For sure, the next agenda on the mayor’s list is to have all cats registered and tagged.
Honorable Mayor Donald Flores, I don’t blame you, I blame the past. I respect you as mayor of Saipan. One suggestion sir, now that you have built the animal shelter and your office is about to tag the dogs. Can you find a location for a pet cemetery on island?
RAY AGULTO
Kannat Tabla, Saipan
