By Cedric Johnson, Gleaner WriterTHE WESTMORELAND Parish Council is searching for a site in the Sheffield area to house the animal pound for the parish. This is happening even as operational problems have been preventing the smooth removal of animals that continue to roam the streets of Savanna-la-Mar, Negril and other towns in the parish.
"At the Frome pound, things are going fairly satisfactorily. We have a new pound keeper and the truck that was broken down is now back in operation," said the Mayor of Savanna-la-Mar, Councillor Delford Morgan on Friday as he announced plans to set up a new animal impounding facility.
"We have to do this especially since the problem has become acute in the Negril resort; Sheffield which is in close proximity is suitably located for a pound and you know, the law now gives us the authority to establish this facility on our own or to enter into a joint venture arrangement to do so," said the Mayor.
ROAMING THE STREETS
At a recent meeting of the Parish Council, secretary/manager Patricia Sinclair pointed out that one of the reasons so many animals are still roaming the streets is because whenever they are taken in, the owners who reclaim, very often let them loose again.
Mrs. Stair said the truck hired by the Council to transport the animals can only take four to six on each tip. In respect to the problem in Negril, she disclosed that the Council made an offer to the resort tourist board that it would pay $500 to anyone who impounds a stray animal and transports it to the pound. This offer, she said, was accepted.
Meanwhile, Mayor Morgan discloses that the Council is looking at the possibility of sub-contracting the removal and impounding process as a means of speeding it up and making it more efficient, "and we will also be seriously dealing with where animals are reared as the amended law is clear on harsher penalties for persons rearing animals in prohibited areas," he stressed. He also pointed out that pounds are needed in at least two other areas of the parish.
