That’s according to Vince Salas of the Department of Agriculture’s Animal Control Unit, who spoke during a roundtable discussion on Thursday at the legislative building on how to resolve the problem of stray animals on the island.
Hosting the meeting was Sen. Tina Muña-Barnes. Participating in the discussion were representatives from the Mayors Council, the Department of Agriculture, Guam Police Department, Guam Animals In Need, and veterinarian Dr. Joe Joseph, owner of the vet clinic Wise Owl.
“Right now we’re looking at 40 percent of the stray population being first generation domestic animals owned by people not obeying the law,” said Salas.
“There’s another 40 percent that are second generation and are fed by people and they’re not claiming ownership. It’s very difficult to catch those strays,” he stressed.
Salas said there is a third generation of dogs that are feral and covers the remaining 20 percent of the stray population.
“A lot of our stray animals are mixed-breed pit bulls. These are what we’re finding at bus stops. Kids are being chased. Unfortunately we go out there and there’s little we can do,” he explained.
Out of a pack of 10 dogs, Salas said the Animal Control Unit will most likely catch only two. He also said there is no humane way of dealing with this. He suggested there has to be an eradication done first before there can be control.
Salas believes a suggestion made recently by Territorial Veterinarian Dr. Tom Poole, to use a .22 caliber rifle on feral dogs, would be more feasible.
“It isn’t going to dent the stray population, but it’s the only way we see ourselves pulling out of this problem,” he said.
Yigo Mayor Bob Lizama and Barrigada Mayor Jessie Palican touched on two programs implemented in the past that helped with the situation, but for some reason are no longer in effect.
Lizama referred to the Stray Animal Round Up program that was started in 2000 and was very effective, but then faded out of the picture.
Palican said the program implemented in 1992 was called Canine Feline Control and was also very effective. There was even a public campaign and he said many strays were caught.
“One thing they do is when they find out there is a problem with a dog that is owned by a constituent, the mayors go to the residence and enforce the leash law,” said Palican.
But Cindy Bartels, GAIN president, said shooting, poisoning and electrocution of stray animals are not effective.
“It’s not going to get you ahead of the game because you will still have animals out there reproducing,” she said.
What should be done is to enforce programs the mayors have mentioned. She also said owners have to be accountable for their pets that are not registered.
Barnes said it’s not easy to use extreme measures, especially since she respects the life of an animal, especially canines.
“That’s why we have everybody here,” the senator said. The next roundtable discussion is scheduled for May 18.
