Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – The Marina Vallarta Residents Association and the Municipality’s Animal Welfare Branch are working on a plan to promote responsible pet ownership in that area of the municipality, which they hope will be a model to be followed by other communities.
In this regard, the director of the Association, Antonio García López, reported that he held a meeting with the head of that agency, Luna Knopfler Jiménez, accompanied by part of his team, including a veterinarian and a lawyer, to address this issue.
“We agree that there is a lot of work to do in our Marina community, because although we are organized and most people, both residents and visitors, already have some knowledge regarding responsible ownership and management of pets, such as domestic dogs and cats, there is a great need to disseminate the policies and all the issues of the guidelines so that order can be achieved in public spaces,” García López said.
He explained that one of the objectives pursued with this effort is that there are no problems, such as the proliferation of felines, puppies living on the streets – or even animal abuse.
“We have been seeing that this issue needs timely attention, which is why we started a dialogue with them [Animal Welfare] with a view to establishing a work plan, and we will be reporting the progress.”
The uncontrolled growth of cat and dog populations causes a negative impact on the public health of communities. Socioeconomic, political and animal welfare problems are often associated and although this is very marked in popular neighborhoods, it also usually occurs to some degree in areas of higher economic level.
As a result of negative interactions, pets are [sometimes] abandoned by their owners, which has an impact on the increase in the population of stray dogs and cats, and affects the quality of life of its [the community’s] inhabitants.
To this is added that, according to statistical data from the National Institute of Geography and Statistics (INEGI), Mexico is in the third position of animal abuse in Latin America, which not only represents a high degree of violence, but also shows the clear position of many of the inhabitants of this country, the majority, guided by a behavior of outburst and cruelty regarding the care of companion animals.
Specialists affirm that 7 out of 10 domestic animals suffer from some type of abuse. In addition to the fact that more than 70% of dogs are in a street situation, while in the case of cats it is more than 60%.
That is why this attempt by the Residents Association is to be applauded, which is intended to be a model and share with other neighborhoods in other areas of the city. “You can work and live hand in hand and comply with the guidelines because the human being, by nature, is a lover of animals and more of puppies and kitties”.
Source: Contra Línea