Due to shocking opposition from the Veterinary Medical Association of The Bahamas (VMAB), Operation Potcake has been cancelled. Last January, Operation Potcake was responsible for spaying and neutering 2315 stray and roaming dogs, making a significant impact in this huge problem.
Operation Potcake is a charitable initiative involving foreign veterinarians coming to the Bahamas at their own expense and freely donating their efforts to help reduce the numbers of stray and wandering dogs. The first year proved to be an immensely positive success.
However, local veterinarians through the VMAB have decided to reject the much-needed help of the foreign vets. Instead the VMAB has proposed a more profitable self-serving scheme in which only Bahamian vets would participate and each would receive $50 per surgery. They admit that their plan would be far less successful and result in far fewer animals being spayed and neutered, yet they have “politely declined” the assistance of the ready-and-willing foreign vets, many of whom have already made travel plans and purchased their tickets.
The local vets feel threatened by the foreign assistance, stating in a letter that they feel the need “to send a clear message to our fellow Bahamians that we are an entity more than capable of of managing the difficult task of reducing our strays, and it should be none but our own that assume that responsibility.”
Clearly, this is not true or the stray dog issue would be better managed. The local vets, and the country, are in obvious need of the assistance of the foreign vets and it is a shame – and a sin – that pride, ego and greed have once again destroyed something that would have been so good for this country.
Last year even Prime Minister Christie expressed how successful the project was, and what an overwhelmingly positive response there had been within the community. Seeing the tremendous good the project did, Mr. Christie promised that Operation Potcake would become an annual event.
One of the local Operation Potcake volunteers was quoted in The Tribune: “Finally we found an effective way to tackle this huge stray dog problem only to have it ruined by a few people’s greed.”
Read the original article from The Tribune, and the original VMAB letter
SIGN THE PETITION to allow foreign vets entry to donate their services to help the animals.
