St. Elizabeth to Get New Animal Pound By Month End

The St. Elizabeth Municipal Corporation is to establish an animal pound by the end of September as part of ongoing efforts to rein in stray and abandoned animals.

Mayor of Black River, Councillor Derrick Sangster, who made the disclosure at the monthly meeting of the St. Elizabeth Municipal Corporation recently, said that a contractual agreement has been signed between the Corporation and Mitchell’s Security Limited, which will manage the facility.

The animal pound will be located in the Myersville area of the parish where stray animals, to include pets and livestock, will be impounded and their owners fined.

“The area of the pound is that acreage that we had taken over from Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company (JISCO). We are putting all that is necessary in place, and it is only a matter of time now,” Mayor Sangster said.

He informed that the Corporation will be engaging a town crier, among other measures, to sensitise the public about the pound. He said the hope is that residents will take more responsibility for their animals.

“I believe it is the intention to have an exercise to sensitise all the citizens that an [animal] pound is now about to be in place and that under the regulations, the seizure of animals will now become a reality. So now, hopefully, some of the difficulties that have been experienced in the past will now be alleviated,” Mayor Sangster added.