HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — An existing process for residents to legally kill wild animals could be used by island mayors to address the longstanding concern of dangerous stray dogs in villages.
During a monthly meeting held Wednesday, members of the Mayors Council of Guam expressed their frustration over a lack of available space at the government-funded animal shelter. Several said their efforts to catch aggressive strays endangering their residents have been delayed because they were told Guam Animals in Need had full kennels.
“GAIN has done this for a year already. We’re not getting any better, and there’s a lot of dogs that are roaming the streets. And they’ve attacked kids — again,” Paul MacDonald, mayor of Agana Heights said. “School is opening, and it’s going to get worse. What are we going to do with GAIN?”
Council President Jesse Alig, Piti mayor, said he’s discussed the insufficient space to house captured stray dogs with lawmakers and the governor’s office, but the cause of the problem ultimately is a lack of funding.
“Who else can help us other than the administration, other than the Legislature? That’s the bottom line because it’s about money, right? It’s about how much money…. GAIN needs to expand their capacity,” he told members. “And I know that we’ve talked about it, but unfortunately that’s all it has been: talk. So I’ll continue to have that conversation with the Legislature and the administration.”
Permit to cull
As mayors and vice mayors continued to air their frustrations with not being able to address complaints and concerns about aggressive stray dogs in their villages, a possible solution was floated that allows village leaders, and even residents, to take matters into their own hands.
A “depredation” permit currently administered by the Department of Agriculture allows for the killing of feral or wild animals. While the application specifically mentions its use is meant to allow for the legal killing of deer, pigs and birds, the document also offers applicants to disclose the intent to cull “other” wild animals. Other laws, like those governing the possession and use of firearms to kill the animals covered by the permit would still need to be followed, according to Alig.
“If the dog is wild or feral, then it can be included as ‘other,’ right? And again, all of that is subject to the approval of the director of Agriculture,” he said. “If we feel that you’re able to, and you have the capacity to execute this depredation — then you can collectively or singularly apply for this depredation permit.”
Members shared their support for the idea.
“When we talk about depredation in regard to feral animals, I agree with every one of my colleagues that is something that needs to be considered,” Jessy Gogue, mayor of Chalan Pago-Ordot said. “Not because we’re trying to go after someone’s family pet, but we’re trying to address the feral problem on this island — be it dogs or pigs that are tearing up farms and people’s crops or garden. This is a real problem.”
Gogue isn’t licensed to carry a gun, but he said he would be “the first one to get in line” for one if the council approves a collective effort to use the permitted process to lower the number of stray animals.
“We can solve it here; we must solve it here, because nobody is paying attention,” he said.
The mayors council said it would discuss the matter with the Department of Agriculture, particularly in light of a recent law that reformed multiple parts of Guam’s animal cruelty statutes.
The policy has been considered for some time now.
Alig disclosed he was hoping to pilot a collaborative culling project to get rid of the pack of wild dogs Tiyan residents have complained about. Plans changed after the situation became controversial between residents of the neighborhood and members of an animal advocacy group who were trying to humanely capture the strays.
“It seems as if most of us are OK with the depredation permit. And if we are, then I want to work towards that, because it will satisfy the majority of us — which means it would satisfy the majority of the people,” Alig said. “The louder the voice doesn’t mean they’re right. What I’m saying is, it’s loud out there because we have opposition, but it doesn’t mean they’re right. We know because we’re the ones seeing
Stray dogs are seen at Maga’haga Highway, formerly known as the Tiyan Parkway, on June 27, 2021 in Tiyan, Guam.
