Animal shelter faces closure, but putting healthy animals ‘to sleep’ is not a viable solution, PAAWS PRO says

Although PAAWS Antigua faces closure, as it is struggling to meet its
financial obligations, Public Relations Officer Gemma Handy says
she does not believe that euthanizing strays would be a viable
solution.
 
Handy says that at any given time, the shelter – located at Parham –
houses 100 animals: about 70 dogs and 30 cats.
 
She notes that dog and cat food has gone up exponentially; and with
other costs also increasing and with staff to pay, the shelter is having
difficulty meeting its many obligations.
 
To help the situation, PAAWS will be staging an event this weekend
to raise funds, allowing it to continue its work. But Handy says the

shelter will not put healthy animals to sleep in order to remain
financially viable.
 
She believes the solution to reducing the number of stray animals is
getting owners to have their pets spayed and neutered.

Meanwhile, Handy says there are still issues with so many strays
around the island – even though the situation has improved
minimally.
 
She acknowledges that more people are getting their pets spayed
and neutered, thus reducing the population of unwanted animals.

That was PAAWS Antigua Public Relations Officer Gemma Handy.
 
While PAAWS has sent animals overseas to be with their adoptive
owners, that is not the main mission of the shelter. According to
Handy, PAAWS, unlike similar entities, focuses on providing local
homes for the animals through adoption.