LUCEA, Hanover – MAYOR of Lucea Shernet Haughton says the Hanover Parish Council may have to establish its own animal pound, in an effort to curb the influx of stray animals in the town and other sections of the parish.

“I wrote to the secretary/ manager pointing out that St James and St Elizabeth no longer operate a pound, so I am considering that the council may have to look at the setting up our own pound,” said Haughton.

The mayor was responding to numerous calls, from councillors at the Hanover Parish Council and the public, for the streets of the parish to be rid of stray animals.

The most recent call came during the sitting of the April regular monthly meeting of the Hanover Parish Council.

The councillors had earlier asked for checks to be made with the parishes of St Elizabeth and St James, about the possibility of taking captured animals to their pounds.

But Haughton later disclosed that those checks have revealed that the two parishes no long operate animal pounds.

Up to eight years ago stray animals captured in the parish of Hanover were later transported to animal pounds in St James and St Elizabeth.

In February, Lester Crooks, a former mayor of Lucea, who is the sitting councillor for the Riverside Division, also highlighted the need for the impounding of animals, which he said, are creating havoc in the parish.

At that time, he blamed the presence of stray cows on the roadway for several of the fatal accidents that have occurred in the parish over the past few months, adding that goats, dogs and cows are almost everywhere on the streets, particularly on the Point main road and in the town of Lucea.

He stressed that in recent months there has been a marked increase in the number of dogs in the town’s centre.

According to Crooks, last week a child was bitten by one of the dogs which gather on a daily basis in the town within the vicinity of the Bustamante Square, where the Lucea Police Station, a post office and the Hanover Parish Council Municipal building are located. He said the child was taken to the hospital for treatment.

One prominent businessman in the town, who did not want to be named, told the Observer West that the authorities need to address the matter of stray animals with urgency.

“The animals roaming the streets of Lucea, some attacking people, while others rummage in the garbage, are making the town unsightly, and must be addressed quickly,” he stressed.