By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

IN most wealthy countries, stray dogs are rare. In The Bahamas, they are everywhere. They roam school zones, sleep beneath cars, dart across busy roads, and scavenge around shops and construction sites.

Residents encounter them in packs day and night, sometimes sick or injured and limping along the roadside. Visitors post photos and videos of malnourished dogs outside resorts and cruise ports, while homeowners complain of noise, bites, and torn garbage.

Their pervasiveness raises the question: Is the country willing to do what it takes to fix a problem more commonly associated with developing states?

Animal welfare advocates say the answer, so far, is no. Not because solutions are unknown or unaffordable, but because enforcement has been inconsistent and political will uneven, allowing irresponsible breeding and abandonment to outpace every humane intervention.

Advocates argue that The Bahamas already has a workable blueprint for reducing stray dog populations. What it lacks is consistent leadership to enforce it.

Charities continue to fund spay-and-neuter programmes, rescue efforts, and public education, but those gains are being eroded by backyard breeding and the weak enforcement of existing animal welfare laws.

Lisse McCombe, vice-president of the Bahamas Alliance for Animal Rights and Kindness (BAARK!), said humane population control — not eradication — depends on enforcement.

BAARK said The Bahamas can significantly reduce and control the stray dog population through sustained spay-and-neuter programmes, but warned that progress hinges on government action.

The organisation’s 2024 data showed rising public participation, with its mobile clinic operating at capacity four days a week in New Providence, waitlists forming, and repeat Family Island clinics seeing increased demand. BAARK reported providing 6,066 free spay-and-neuter surgeries in 2024 and 4,252 in 2025 across multiple islands.

Those gains, the group said, are not sustainable without enforcement.

“The primary obstacle is the continued failure of the Department of Agriculture, under the leadership of the Minister of Agriculture, to enforce existing animal welfare legislation,” Ms McCombe said.

“NGOs are funding and delivering the bulk of animal control outcomes, including sterilisation, rescue, rehabilitation, and education, yet operate without the regulatory backing required to stop irresponsible ownership, illegal breeding, and abandonment.

“This is not an operational gap. It is a leadership failure. Until enforcement becomes consistent and visible, the stray population will continue to multiply faster than charities can respond.”

She said unregulated breeding and weak enforcement are driving the crisis, adding that the “failure lies” in the Department of Agriculture's implementation.

Kim Aranha, president of the Bahamas Humane Society and the Animal Protection and Control Board, said the problem is solvable — and quickly — if the country commits to a sustained national strategy.

She said the stray dog issue can be resolved humanely in about five years through an expanded, countrywide spay-and-neuter programme.

Ms Aranha noted that the average female dog can have six to eight puppies, around half of them female, and can reproduce every six months. She said spaying a single female today can prevent as many as 2,000 dogs within three years.

She highlighted Operation Potcake, which was led twice by the Humane Society with significant support from BAARK, but said the initiative exposed the limits of short-term interventions.

“We only could afford to do it for two weeks,” she said. “We brought in participating vets who came in for free. That is not how a blitz could be organised.”

“You need to have the government enlarge the amount of veterinarians they have on staff, and they need to establish clinics in three different parts of the island of New Providence. People need to be encouraged to bring their animals in to have them spayed and neutered.”

Ms Aranha also criticised what she described as a fixation on licensing rather than population control.

“I find it unbelievably frustrating that the only thing that seems to interest anybody is getting dogs licensed,” she said. “If you want to do that, then hit people where it hurts. A dog that's been spayed or neutered should be $10. A female that has not been spayed should be $500 a year, and a male that has not been neutered should be $350 a year. Make people put their money where their mouth is.”

On Grand Bahama, Elizabeth “Tip” Burrows of the Humane Society said the solution must be multifaceted, combining expanded spay-and-neuter programmes, reduced breeding, licensed and inspected breeders, and stronger enforcement.

She said roaming dogs, uncontrolled breeding, cruelty, and neglect are already illegal, but enforcement remains weak.

“Unfortunately, the humane society does not have any law enforcement authority, so we have to rely on the police,” she said. “Very all too often, the police are not interested. They take statements, they take complaints, and then they do nothing, or they just, you know, they may go talk to the people, but that's it.”

“Once in a blue moon, they'll take action, but it's not consistent, and there needs to be repercussions for things that are being violated in order for people to understand and take it seriously.”

She also warned about casual, profit-driven breeding, saying many puppies are sold without vaccinations or deworming and sometimes under false claims. Ms Burrows urged buyers to educate themselves, noting that reputable breeders are scarce locally.