President Daniel Gibbs received, on Thursday, September 23, two representatives of the collective that spontaneously formed after the poisoning of pets in the north of the island (Anse Marcel, Cul-de-Sac and Grand -Case). The latter condemned in the strongest terms this act of cruelty and showed his support for those who lost an animal in these circumstances.
The ever-increasing presence of stray animals on the territory of the Collectivity can in no way justify the suffering inflicted on these animals, here the poisoning of 50 dogs and cats, mostly belonging to families.
Aware of the urgent need to create a structure for the care of stray animals, the Collectivité of Saint-Martin is part of a process of installing a territorial pound associated with the opening of a refuge.
So far, with regard to its obligations, the Collectivity has worked with the Guadeloupe pound. The structure carried out occasional interventions in Saint-Martin (3 times a year). The presence of stray animals having increased considerably since Irma, it is now necessary to structure and perpetuate this service locally. Regarding the refuge, the Collectivity made land available to a local association for the opening of an animal refuge ten years ago. This refuge operated until 2017, then was destroyed by Hurricane Irma. This land of the Collectivity located in Mont Vernon has become unusable for this type of activity (floodable).
The community is preparing to launch a new public market bringing together the pound and the refuge on the same site, within the framework of close collaboration between these two entities. Before publishing this call for projects, the Community must secure public land to reserve it exclusively for this dual activity. Administrative constraints have delayed the deadline, the scarcity of available public land is also a factor of delay.
As the President reminded the representatives of the collective, the institution wishes to make land available in the long term. This land must therefore be located far from homes, in a secure area free from development projects. A piece of land has been identified in the Grand-Case l'Esperance sector but for a proper allocation of the land, it must be free from any occupation and legally exploitable.
The President takes the creation of this pound-refuge very seriously and does everything in his power to ensure that the Collectivity can launch this call for tenders. He thanks the volunteers and associations, who, while waiting for this project to materialize, work daily for the well-being of stray animals.
Discussions with the two representatives of the collective were constructive; they made it possible to identify the immediate expectations of dog owners and breeders, and to explain the difficulties on both sides. The creation of a pound and a refuge remains a joint priority on which the community is committed to doing its part.
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