Animal Welfare Group Stalled
Dr Alfred Benjamin
Friday, September 10, 2004
The government’s Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (AWAC), established by the
Animals Law of 2003, has met only once since its appointment almost one year
ago, even though it is required by law to meet at least once every two months.
Established on 16 September, 2003, the Committee is chaired by the Chief
Agricultural Veterinary Officer (CAVO), currently Dr Alfred Benjamin, and
consists of five other individuals appointed by the Minister of Agriculture, the
Hon Gilbert McLean.
By statute, the additional committee members consist of people from specific
organisations or having certain qualities.
The current committee is made up of Alvin McLaughlin of the Agricultural
Society, Mary McTaggart of the Cayman Horse Association, Michelle Reddy of the
Cayman Humane Society, Michael Caputo of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service
(RCIP), and Dr Joseph Jackman, as a member of the general public who has
demonstrated an interest in animal welfare. Dr Jackman practiced as a
veterinarian for 30 years in the Cayman Islands and served as the Chief
Agriculture and Veterinary Officer from 1974 to 1982.
Dr Benjamin said the committee has been unable to meet due to pressing issues
at the Department of Agriculture (DoA) that have taken time and energy away from
getting the AWAC on track.
“The inaugural meeting was in March 2004,” he said. “I led the discussion and
we discussed the key points of operations of the committee and the expectations
and responsibilities of the committee.”
According to Dr Benjamin, the need to fill two key positions in the
Department of Agriculture has prevented the DoA from fully tending to the
establishment of the AWAC as the law requires. “We need to hire both a
Veterinary Officer and an Animal Welfare Officer. These two officials would be
key resources for the committee,” he said.
Dr Benjamin indicated that half the need would soon be met with the
announcement of a veterinary officer in the very near future.
Speaking about the legal requirement calling for the AWAC to meet at least
once every two months and the fact that the committee has met only once in a
year, Dr Benjamin said: “It is a concern, but as I said, due to these vacancies
we have not been able to strictly adhere to the law just yet.”
Dr Jackman also spoke to Cayman Net News about the AWAC as it approaches its
first anniversary. “Well, the first year has gone so-so,” he said. “We had one
official meeting to discuss a lot of things. Since then we have done quite a few
emails and phone calls.”
At the time, two major topics were discussed at the sole meeting of the AWAC.
“We spoke about a few dolphin establishments that had been proposed and then we
spoke about hiring an Animal Welfare Officer,” he said.
Dr Jackman mentioned that a couple of names had been put forward for the
position of Animal Welfare Officer, but that none had been appointed because the
individuals must bring with them a certain level of respect from the community
and be knowledgeable in law enforcement issues. He said the initial salary may
be increased in order to attract a higher caliber candidate.
Concerning the dolphin dilemma facing the Cayman Islands, Dr Jackman said:
“We’re only an advisory committee, but we did go to the meeting in West Bay at
the primary school to look at the different facilities in the Caribbean. We’re
following the law. If we didn’t think it was adequate we can only advise. We
leave the decisions up to the politicians. You can lead a horse to water but you
can’t make him drink.”
Back...
| 
