I start a new thread, the other one (Dangerous dogs and more)is already so long.

We’ve had a lot of reactions, on the articles in Extra, Antilliaans Dagblad, the television presentation on TV11, the radio-program on Voz di Bonairu, and of course also on BT and “Bonaire prikbord", a discussion board about Bonaire in dutch language. Also by telephone, sometimes we had simultaneous calls on the landline, and the two cellular-phones, and also people spoke to us on the streets, and in shops. Nearly all reactions were positive, although Meta & Aad had some “strange” telephone calls. But when our protest comes out to actions where dogs will get killed by police or veterinarian, that can change...

The problem of dog bites is way bigger then we thought it was. We have had information of at least 4 incidents the last two weeks. One of them was with an American tourist, that left the island already. Not much known of her, we know she was in hospital, and reported it to the police-station. I am not sure if there really has been made a report. There were also stories of two different boys that have been bitten, last two weeks. One of them we visited this morning, and the other one we will try to find out what happened.

The boy we visited this morning.


Picture of the brave victim

We don’t really know exactly what happened, but as far as I understood, it happened near Sorobon, the 12 year-old boy was playing on the property of friends, as he did more often. The owner of the property let the dogs out of the cage, as he does normally when not on the property, for protection. (There is a fence around that property). The dogs, (three pitbulls) ran immediately at the boy, and bit him on several places.


pictures of his right upperleg

When the boy started to scream the owner called his dogs back, they listened, and pulled back.


Picture of his left food

He probably hasn’t seen the boy playing in his yard. There were quite some injuries.


Picture of his left upperleg

All this happened also on last Saturday, the same day the two ladies were attacked.


Also in his buttocks

The parents went to the hospital, found out that their SVB-card wasn’t valid anymore, so the father paid everything himself (SVB is the insurancecompany for “local” people on Bonaire). The owner of the dogs wasn’t asked for payment.


His left knee had damages, as well as his left upperarm.

The boy is doing remarkably well, has a lot of stitches on several places, they don’t look as good as Carmelita’s stitches, but he is healing well. (Children’s wounds heal a lot faster than the wounds of grown-ups).

The parents didn’t go to the police to make a report (“That is a lot of work, takes a lot of time, and they don’t do anything with it".) We asked them to go for a report. And promised to help them with it, if necessary. All written documents can help for the fight we are going for.

(An update on the ladies bites will come, but later..... Sorry)

Free Bonaire of dog bites!

Way to go Harrie!! Thanks for elevating this important topic on the public radar. In my neck of the woods, ALL dogs have to be on a leash. Otherwise the police can issue fines and big ones at that if the dog doesn't have a current license. Seems to me, this is a good way for the local government to generate some money as well as "protect & serve" the public.

Like most incidents, the early reports are often misleading. In this case I had pictured a pack of wild dogs randomly attacking passersby, not a dog protecting his fenced in territory. The outcome doesn't change for the unfortunate victim, but it does put the incident in a different perspective.

Wishes for a speedy and full recovery of the lad.

As to unleashed strays roaming the island...... sorry any critter lovers out there, but I'm afraid I am of the camp that would applaud any and all means used to eliminate them.

Bonaire has different demographics of dogs: street dogs, dogs chained or caged 24/7 and domestic pets. Dogs that are chained or caged are not allowed to be pack animals. They become aggressive, unpredictable and often aggressive. It is sad some dogs live a life in a prison hell chained and caged. Their unpredictable eratic behavior can have deadly outcomes and dangerous as seen here. Terrible way to live and terrible for the victims.

I find it fascinating that a government that prohibits the possession of pepper spray by humans to protect themselves from assault allows the keeping of trained attack dogs for protection of property and condones the actual serious injury of innocent humans by these dogs.

Not right.

Go, Harrie!!!

I am sorry guys but I think that there is a major over reaction here.

Bonaire has a very small problem with stray dogs compared with the majority of the Caribbean. Most people on here will have travelled the Caribbean islands and seen the difference. Even in parts of Europe there are bigger problems. In Sofia, the Bulgarian capital for instance there are an estimated 250,000 strays and having been there I would suggest that this is an underestimate.

The stories above are becoming somewhat convoluted and some Harrie, by your own admission, vague or unsubstantiated. The young lad for instance was playing in a friends garden and was attacked by guard dogs. The owner may have been negligent but the dogs were doing their job. What do you advocate Harrie? Should we go the way of Europe and have home owners prosecuted if a burglar is bitten by the dog of the house he is robbing?

As far as other attacks, surely this comes under the same umbrella as crime threads. Posting hearsay and supposition about attacks without backing it up with police or doctors reports is going to lead to exaggeration and untruths.

Harrie, I am really sorry about your friends and I do hope that their recovery is swift and without complication. That said, I really do think that this is being blown out of all proportion. I lived on the island for three years with my Wife and neither of us, nor anyone we know were the victim of an attack by a stray dog. That does not mean that it does not happen but it does indicate that it is not pandemic.

Before people start getting hysterical and advocating the mass culling of street dogs, please think of the alternatives and see the problem for what it is in relation to the bigger picture.

Antony (Without the "H")

Antony, I feed many street dogs. They are IMHO harmless. They are timid and scared of people. The dog attacks Harrie and others described seem to be domestic animals/attack dogs, not street dogs.

Ann.

I agree with you but it is of course a natural instinct that when in a pack, they become more aggressive.

We have always fed street dogs. There would always be biscuits etc in our cars. Sadly, most of the street dogs do have owners and it is they who should be brought to task.

I recall one evening that on our way home along Kaminda Lagoen, a guy was kicking hell out of what turned out to be his dog. Every time he kicked it, the faithful dog came back to him and was rewarded with another. The reason? He was drunk and thought that it was funny. His children witnessed this so the probable result will be that they will see this as appropriate and acceptable behaviour. He did stop however when I offered him the same treatment but I fear that the dog would have got more later.

I of course called the Police who said that there was nothing that they could do.

I still maintain that the only solutions are through education, sterilisation, a dog warden and licenced ownership.

Antony (without the "H")

Antony, that is so disturbing.

Thank you Antony. Hopefully your interference gave that dog at least some time to heal. It is a shame that more people do not step up and defend the helpless. Thank you very much!

Jerry.

You are right, it is disturbing but we all know that animal cruelty is worldwide.

Antony (without the "H")

Tribs.

I am sure that most on here would have done the same. It is just a shame that it is necessary to have to.

As Dante's Inferno outlined sectors of hell, I'm sure there's such a place for those who use dogs for fighting & betting on dog fights; for those who teach their animals to be aggressive; for those who keep their dogs chained to a leash 24 hours a day; & for those folks who are just plain mean as outlined in Antony's post above. I believe they call it "karma" or in the street vernacular; "what goes around, comes around"..

Antony (without H),

Totally disagree with you.
There is no exaggeration or over-reaction here.

If you see the pain these two ladies and the boy went through, (not only physical, but also psychological, including nightmares) every bite is one bite too much.

And how can you compare a town like Sofia (10 million citizens, or so, with 250.000 dogs, 1:40), with Bonaire (15,000 citizens and 5000 dogs, 1:3), Just a very rough estimate, so the problem is here more then 10 times as bad.......

And about all the reactions we've heard, up to now, the doctor, the hospital assistant, lots of telephone-calls, we have details of four attacks with heavy wounds, the last two weeks, How dare you, to say we are over-reacting.
BTW, the solutions you tell are obvious, but very helpful.

I don't think I said my posts were vague, not at all, everything is documented. About the boy, just to show how terrible dog-bites can be, and how inattentive people handle their dogs. This boy played there more often, with admission of the owner of the property. I did not advocate to have that dog-owner prosecuted at all..... And this boy was not robbing, at least i THINK playing is something else than robbery.

Police-reports? how can I produce a police-report if the police DOES NOT WANT to make a report!!!
(BTW: after 5 days, about 20 times asking for it, and 3 times sitting, waiting and talking at the police-office in vain, we got our notification).

I live on this island now for nearly 6 years, and I am quite sure the situation with loose dogs became much more worse since then.



I will go on with the fight for:

Free Bonaire from dog-bites!

I don't like this slogan, but don't have the inspiration for a better one, someone has an idea?

Harrie

I repeat the statement of Antony (without the H):

"I still maintain that the only solutions are through education, sterilisation, a dog warden and licenced ownership."

1. Education about behaviour towards dogs: not done on Bonaire.
2. Sterilisation, just on voluntarily basis, and only females, not continuously, (only actions).
3. Dog warden: not on Bonaire.
4. Licensed ownership: you cannot register a dog here, you cannot pay the dog-tax, and there are no "dog-license-plates".

So quite a long way to go, and it is easy to say "this is the solution", from a distance, we have to deal with it, here and now. Knowing there is no money to get it done....

Harrie

"Free Bonaire from dog-bites"

Harrie.

I hope that you don't think that I am trivialising the problem nor the extent of the injuries sustained.

I am really playing devils advocate and trying to put things into perspective. I would be very surprised if there are 5000 dogs roaming the streets of Bonaire, I doubt even 500. As for the population of Sofia, it is only around 1.2million so that makes one stray for 4.8 people. Now that is a lot of dogs.

All I am saying Harrie is that exaggeration and sensationalism is not going to encourage peoples support.

I really do wish you every success from all sides. For as much as I hate to see people attacked by dogs, it is just as disturbing to see the suffering endured by strays that may now also have to contend with revenge attacks.

Antony (still without the "H")

Antony, (without H),

I don't want to discuss about Sofia anymore, (is too far away form here) but about the dogs on Bonaire.
We have 15,000 people living on the island, let's say in average 3 persons per house, means 5000 houses. (I remember a report of some years ago, saying over 7000 houses, but can't find it anymore). In average let's suppose 1 dog per house, (Some people have 0 dogs, some people have 6 or even more dogs), means 5000 dogs on the island. Probably more. How many walking free, unleashed? No idea, but most of the dogs jump over the fence, so now and then. So quite a big number will be unleashed, more then a few 100, at least. Just drive through Hato, in the evening, you could count more then 100......

Curacao just got a law, a dog that attacked human beings will be killed a.s.a.p.

Harrie (with a H)

Free Bonaire from dog-bites!

(Message edited by harmoni on March 22, 2008)

What happened, following the vicious dog attack causing heavy wounds , done by a loose dog near Seru Largo?

First: The condition of the two victims. Day 5. Check of the wounds by the doctor. Wounds are doing good. The deep pits in the leg of Meta are closed. The enormous blue spot is getting a bit lighter. The stitched wound of Carmelita looks nice, is also closed. Carmelita has also got some nice blue spots. It appears that there are no infections coming. This far it looks that the doctor did a marvellous job. In 5 days (day 10) the stitches will be taken out. Walking is still difficult, but nothing internally seems to be damaged. Both ladies suffer still from nightmares. Their partners suffer too from the ladies nightmares……

Actually, I had three different points I wanted to make.

1. Dangerous loose dogs
2. The uninterested reaction of police-officers, (the driving away after the accident, and not willing to make an official report.).
3. The understaffed hospital.

To start with that last point. Of course this is a long-time-existing problem, the hospital is very out of date, it is not possible to work efficiently. I don’t think there is more staff now, when we have 15,000 people on Bonaire, than a few years ago, when there were 9000 people here. We can expect that, as soon as Bonaire becomes “a town of the Netherlands" this will be one of the first action-points. I’ve heard, and read that there will be funds available for this, as soon as it is felt certain that the funds will be used for the right purpose. The current problems are well-known to the responsible persons, and everybody tries to solve the problems as good as possible. I have decided not address this problem in these reports. With the remaining problems we have a challenging job.
The two remaining problems are very related, so I will keep talking about these in this thread.

Yesterday we were driving over the island. Because we are extra attentive to this now, we see all those dogs, loose, and sometimes in a very neglected condition. I tried to determine how many dogs we are talking. There will be easily several thousands of dogs on Bonaire, perhaps a few 100 of them aggressive, and perhaps 10 of them aggressive AND loose. I just repeat. For a few 100 donkeys, (not aggressive, perhaps making some bumps in cars), there is a real Donkey Sanctuary / Safari Park constructed. And for those 1000’s of dogs? Nothing is done.

In the next post I’ll tell more about what has happened the last few days.

What has happened the last few days?

First the fact that it was not possible to make an official Police Report about what had happened.
We have been at the police-station on day 1 and 3 in vain. On day 4 we finally got direct communication with the commander-in-charge, who also said that it is not possible to make an official Report. But he wanted to print for us the notice, that supposedly was made on day 1. It is apparent that this notice was composed on day 4 (We are sure, because some information that was given that day 4, were printed in the notice). We got a printed notice which was back-dated to day 1. At least we had some official police-paper!!!
Not happy with this notice (no official Police Report), I called the Officer of Justice (he is in fact responsible for the police-force). This person was extra-ordinarily co-operative. He understood our problem, and has the opinion that there must be an official Police Report made when any citizen requests one. Of course this is independent from any actions that may or may not result from that Report. We arranged to come to the police-station on day 4 in the afternoon, and get that notification done. So we went.
At the police-station we could tell our story, the officers were very friendly, but the acting officer told us that there would NOT be an official Police Report, that was against the police-regulations. We tried what we could, but no is no. So we slinked off again.
I called the Officer of Justice again. Told the story. He was very surprised (as I would be in his position), wanted to check things, and called back to tell me that next day (day 5) the police would call us, to make another appointment for a Police Report. And indeed, we got called back, not on day 5 but in the evening of day 4, by the same officer that we have had earlier that day. He told us that we had to come to the police station, and we had to go, together with a police officer to the owners of the dog, to identify the dog. But making an official Police Report? Would not be done. Again different from what the Officer of Justice had told……
With the proverb “The maintainer wins,” I called the Officer of Justice again on day 5 (he was difficult to reach this time), but he called back, the end of the day, to say that we had to go again to the police station the next day, to make the Police Report. This time he had organised it securely. So on day 6 we were for the third time on the police office, and got our official Police Reports. (So, moderators of BonaireTalk, if you want to have a copy, just ask, and you’ll get.) (Sorry, couldn’t resist).
There will not be many friends left for us in the police office, but this “struggle for power" WE won, finally. I can advice: If you are treated not well and correctly by the police, FIGHT!, don’t be sent away with just words instead of results! It is worth all the effort!
Now we have the Police Report, it is quite interesting what the follow-up will be. This is actually beyond our control. If the police (+ Officer of Justice) decide that the dog should stay with his owners, there is nothing legal anymore we can do. We will keep an eye on this.

Next post I will tell about what happened according to the actions we want to take against the officer that left the injured and frightened victims, and drove away.

Harrie

Free Bonaire from dog-bites!

Wow.. Interesting to see the differences in the judicial system on Bonaire in contrast to what we're used to in the States. If what you described happen in the US, by now suit would have been filed at a minimum naming the municipality which employed the officers for negligence in failing to aid an injured person in distress as well as the owner of the dog for the rather severe injuries sustained. Of course in the US if an officer witnessed a dog mauling a person, they would have shot the dog immediately and would have asked questions later.

Then we have the problem of the police-officer who passed by when the incident just had happened, and told the two woman, bleeding and in panic, and without getting out of the police-car, “to drive to the hospital". And drove away. Exactly this event was perceived by the victims as terrible. Imagine, a dog just bit you heavily, you are really panicking, and suddenly you see a police-car coming. In such a moment this must feel like a big help, salvation in case of emergency…… But what happens when the police officer says: “go to the hospital" and drives away? We wanted to file a complaint against that officer. We had said that before, several times, but in the conference in the police-office on day 5 we said that explicitly, and what happened, that same police-officer came in, said he was the officer at the place where the incident happened, and responded to our question of why he didn’t help the women: “That is not my task.” Well you can imagine that this was not a good answer for us. When Carmelita asked him (very emotionally) if he also could not have them helped, just as a human being, since they were in very disordered condition and heavily bleeding, he answered that he had not seen any blood, and that giving help is not his task. We can imagine he didn’t see blood, since he didn’t get out of his car at all!!!. Then a discussion started between me and him, in which I tried to make him understand that even a non-police-officer never ever should leave two ladies in such needing circumstances alone. The officer made repeatedly again discussion impossible, never letting me finish my sentence. After several tries, I made him (with louder voice) enough silent, to tell my story, after that I told him he could tell his story, but then he left the room without saying a word. Very, very impertinent!. He had made Carmelita with his behaviour so emotionally distressed, that she was crying. Me too, I felt his behaviour absolute scandalous! This all happened in a room where four other police-officers present, they all were looking perplexed, but didn’t say a word. This is no behaviour for a person that is to guard law and order on the island. We all think officer concerned could have given his excuses, telling, it was a miscalculation of him, but even that was not possible. I asked the officer that was supposed to do the Police Report where I could put a complaint against that officer, and got the answer: “Mr. Domacasse, gezaghebber". Later this appeared to be wrong too. We left the police-station shocked, due to the behaviour of the police-officer that drove away.
When I spoke with the Officer of Justice about this event, he said we had to put the complaint with the acting chief of police, not with mr. Domacasse. Well, we were already busy trying to contact that chief, ever since day 1. I called this week more then 100 times (made notes) with the police-station. 65 times the call wasn’t answered at all (probably it was very busy, or they looked at the caller-ID), a few times I got connected to the secretary, 8 times they promised to call me back, (not once); I’ve heard really all kind of excuses. Making an appointment was not possible. Until the end of day 5, when they told me the chief was only available that day, and would be out of office till day 11. We made an appointment for Thursday, next week, (nearly two weeks after the incident!) But: we DO have an appointment!



Harrie

Free Bonaire from Vicious Dog Attacks!

This (for the moment) last post mentions several things according to this case, which are just a mixture of all kind of things that happened to us this week with regard to this topic.

During the day at the police-office when the official Police Report was supposed to be made, there was a funny discussion. The officer heard that we too have a dog., and asked if we had paid the dog-tax. He showed us the police-regulations concerning dogs, which says: every dog has to be registered, a yearly tax of NAf. 5,-- has to be paid, and the dog has to wear the payment-badge. Honestly, we thought this dog-tax wasn’t applicable anymore since some 10 years. Without the badge, we could get a nice penalty. So loyal citizens as we are, we went day 5 to the tax-office, to register, pay dog-tax and get our badge. In vain. Although it is in the law, it is not possible to register nor to pay the dog-tax. There are no dog-badges. At least, we tried, and waited in the line for more then half-an-hour.

After Carmelita had reacted so emotionally at the police-office, we could get acquainted with a completely new Bonairian phenomenon: Victims-aid. On day 5 a worker of this service came to our house. Soon the discussion didn’t go about the dog anymore, but more about the follow-up from the police. I think especially Carmelita was very disappointed in the way the police acted. She had expected a lot more. We are wondering what “victims-aid” can do for Carmelita and Meta....


Finally I wanted to make an appointment with the “Gezaghebber”, mr. Domacasse. I want to talk with him about the problems dogs cause on Bonaire in general, the bad behaviour and bad-acting of the police, and the things that we experienced about the dog-tax. The Gezaghebber is the person that should start actions to address these things. Mr. Domacasse had day 5 and day 6 the whole day meetings (terrible job, isn’t it?), had a day off on Friday, and will be next week off-island. Yet his secretary had given my name and phone-number to mr. Domacasse, and to my surprise he called me at the end of day 6, to express personally that he was shocked about what had happened to Carmelita and Meta. He said he was confronted with the problem of the dogs, and that there will be actions “soon” to address this problem. He didn’t have time now anymore to talk to me, but as soon as he will be back from abroad, he will make contact, to make an appointment to talk with me, and other parties concerned. He also told that he recognised what I call “the police-problem”, and that he and the Officer of Justice are working to change the mentality.
Actually, this was a very nice present for all the work we have done last week, to wake up the public opinion.

All the people that promised me to do several things, must not think that the work is done with the promise. Then I will appear to be a difficult person. I will check what is going on, check if appointments are met, and bring (personally and through publicity) attention to persons concerned about what they are doing wrong.
For the moment we will take some moments of rest to let all the things happened come to their right, and think about actions we can take to get involved bureaucracy active. And, of course, enjoy our Easter Eggs.

Positive ideas are always welcome. But please, any idea like ”take a baseball bat", or “shoot all dogs" are not considered realistic. Also must be taken in concern, that we are a small island, and up to now there is no money-tree growing here. So creative ideas are welcome!

Thanks for your attention!

Free Bonaire from dog-bites! Or: Free Bonaire from Vicious Dog-Attacks!


Harrie

(Thanks Nathalie)

Does the Governor still have weekly visits from the citizens (and non-citizens)?

For those who maybe don't know - used to be, could still be, that anyone could see the Governor about any issue on a specific morning of the week. We had used this process two times with excellent results. He doesn't just pass the concern on to the appropriate people, but has his people track the progress if needed.

Seems to me that this might be the place to take all of this.

How about a "Free Bonaire from a Useless Police Force" bumper sticker?

The level of apathy and inertia of the Bonaire "Police" force is a disgrace. Shame on them!

I don't expect an impoverished island to be able to muster up the same level of citizen protection as a major US city...but DAMNATION!...at least they could PRETEND they have a paying job.

Harrie, good luck with your fight. I admire your determination. Maybe something will change for the better when Bonaire gets Dutch law? After all, in Holland dog rules are much stricter than they seem to be on Bonaire.

Harrie,

I am glad that you were finally able to get a police report, and I hope that you will get some justice against the uncaring police officer. I am glad that the victims are doing better.

While investigating cases of animal cruelty and neglect (which are crimes on Bonaire) I quickly learned that while the police were generally unresponsive, Prosecutor's office always was. It is also the law that dogs are to be fenced, leashed or otherwise under the control of the owner (although clearly this is rarely enforced), so I would think that some action would be taken against the owners of the dogs who attacked these people. My information may be outdated, but the last I heard, the dog catcher is still employed by LVV but is not doing that job because the truck has been 'broken' for more than a year. I would think that it is still the responsibility of LVV to deal with vicious dogs roaming the streets, regardless of their transportation issues. Have you contacted them? Perhaps that would be another topic to discuss with Mr. Domacasse. The government does have the right to seize animals who are abused; I would think they would have the right to seize vicious ones as well.

As an aside, if anyone knows of cases of serious animal cruelty or neglect which can be documented, or has information about dog fighting, please contact the Prosecutor's office. In my experience they will make sure the matter is investigated and prosecuted if possible.

Years ago, when they introduced the tax + tag for the dogs, there was also an official dog catcher. Loose dogs were for a time (I dont remember if it was a few months or even more than a year) taken of the streets. Owneres (when dogs had a tag) were contacted and warned, other dogs nobody was interested in, had to be put asleep. There was a time one could go for a walk.....
I did ask the Wowo di Bario people about dog problem in Belnem - they only walk a small part of it. There is one big problem in the Kaya Jupiter they told me and there are 2 dogs in the Kaya van Eps, ennoying the cars and bikers but seem not to be as agressive as the ones in the Kaya Jupiter ..... talking to owners does not help, has be tried ! To make it clear, the owners are Dutch and Bonaireans ......

Harrie, Have you tried the Governor? If the Governor still holds his weekly meetings with the people it might be a great place to take your cause. It may also reduce a lot of effort and frustration with quicker results.

Barry,

As I wrote already, I tried to make an appointment with the Gezaghebber (mr. Domacasse).
As far as we know he doesn't have his weekly meeting anymore.
Mr. Domacasse is this whole week off-island, but he called me last thursday (day 6) that he had read our story (in Extra), and was very concerned. He promised me to call me back, as soon as he would be back on island, to make an appointment. (together with other concerned people).

I don't agree with you that going directly to the highest person is always the best. Also the Gezaghebber will ask: Did you contact the Officer of Justice, did you contact the chief of Police? And also you will never ever get cooperation from the lower levels at all.
So I went all the way through.

See what happens.

Harrie

"and that giving help is not his task"
Harrie, this police officer's response should be your battle cry!
If giving help is not a police officer's task then what is their job description!
Thanks for the updates! Keep up the good work!

How about:
"Loose dogs will lose tourists!"
"Take a bite out of crime, by taking responsibility for your dogs!"

Sorry Harrie. I forgot my Dutch word for Governor.

I guess I'm of the sort that if people ignore you - police - and if people don't seem to help you, the top is where one would go.

But...but...it's your cause and I hope for the best that you succeed and you must do what is comfortable for you.

What I say doesn't mean squat when I'm not the one doing it.

Update, day 13

First two pictures of the wounds of Carmelita.


This is how the wound looks, after nearly two weeks.
Still a big ugly tubercle under the skin.


The blue spots are disappearing.

I don’t have pictures of the leg of Meta. The deep holes are closed now, the blue spots are getting smaller.
The doctor inspected the wounds, today, and was happy. The stitches have been taken out. We doubt the promises of the doctor that there will be no scars, will approve to be true. The doctor did an amazing good job, anyway. The ladies don’t have to be back with the doctor (if there are no complications coming up). Walking is better, but still difficult.

Then we had on day 13 finally a meeting with the acting chief of police. (also nearly two weeks after the incident.). The goal was to bring a complaint against the officer forward, that drove away after the dog-attack. We were received friendly, the chief asked with interest after what had happened and the situation of the wounds. He was surprised that we had managed to get an official Police Report (was not possible according to his opinion), looked at the report, and found several mistakes in that report. He wanted to talk to the officer that had made the report, and would take care of correcting the mistakes. He also listened patiently to the story of the driving-away officer, and his behaviour on the office, a few days later. According the police-chief a police-officer is by law not allowed to transport an injured patient in a police car. He also told, that if he had been in that situation, he would have called an ambulance. He did not want to make an official complaint against the officer. He did promise to talk to the officer about his behaviour. We think the officer should come to the two ladies and offer his apologies. If he will not do this I will go to a higher level, to have the complaint made.
The police-chief also told that the dog that bit the ladies had been confiscated, and is quarantined in the animal-shelter. Waiting is for the assignment of the Officer of Justice, to decide what to do with the dog now.
So we left the police-station once again with more-or-less empty hands.

In the evening we went back to the police-station, where we received the corrected official police-reports.

Today, (day 14) the police-officer responsible for our area (bario-officer) visited the wounded ladies at their homes. (He had been on holidays for one week). He came to ask how the wounds were healing, and to tell the follow-up upon the incident. And to inform how the contact with the lady from victims-aid had been. He told us a lot more about the police-force, and the problems they encounter. He was very friendly and we were really happy, he did this. Really good! He promised to keep us informed about the follow-up.

Meanwhile we have had a lot of discussions with other citizens, that had problems with dogs in the past, citizens that also feel threatened by roaming dogs, dog-owners, veterinarians, people that work at the animal shelter, and reactions on www.oldbonairetalk.com and www.bonaire.startpagina.nl/prikbord. We have tried to make a plan how the problems with the roaming and dangerous dogs on Bonaire could be solved. We are constantly changing and adjusting this plan. We don’t want to go to the Gezaghebber with empty hands, when we have the meeting, but we want to present a completely elaborated action plan, the way we (with help of the overwhelming number of reactions we have had), think how the problem could be solved. Of course we will also make an estimation of the costs involved.

In the same time the two victims started a signature-campaign to show that this problem is important to big quantities of the population and visitors of Bonaire (white as well as coloured, locals as well as Makamba’s). We want to present this list to the Gezaghebber, together with the action plan. I am looking for a way to make it possible that sympathisers that want to show their adhesion on line can do so.
This signature-campaign started under the title: “Aktie tegen gevaarlijke en loslopende honden / Action against dangerous or roaming dogs.
More about this action plan and the signature-campaign in a coming post.

Thanks for your attention

Harrie Cox

I'm sorry,

I've been off here a couple of weeks, and missed most of this. I do not think even a small portion of BT'rs have been attacked by stray dogs on Bonaire. I have personally stopped a gazillion times to feed them, and never felt threatened what so ever.

I'm not the "Dog Whisperer" or anything, but do have 2 of my own, and have encountered a few seemingly aggressive ones over the years. Don't invade their territory, or show fear. If you offer them food and kindness out in the open, they will know you mean them no harm....and you will have made a new friend!!

This is not a problem with the dogs!! It is a problem with poor decisions being made, first by their owners, and second by the local authorities! Believe it or not, even Mike Vick's dogs have been adopted out, after what they went through.

Antony, you go guy!!!!! There are sick SOB's out there!! It's not a problem that we can solve back here!

(Message edited by glenr on March 28, 2008)

Harrie, the street dogs are gentle IMHO. The dogs that attacked are owned by people and are trained to attack. The street dogs are docile and shy. I cannot say ONCE have I or anyone I know been threatened by a street dog. The dog Carmelita was attacked by was owned by a person, correct? I love animals and fear all the street dogs will be collected and killed. Sigh...

Ann
I fully understand what you are saying. However it may not be easy to tell one from the other until it's too late. Had that attack been on a small child it could easily been fatal. Loose dogs are a hazard.
Mick

Harrie,

Good luck down there, and if any of us can help make sure that innocent dogs are not made to pay the price.........let us know how! If a dog is conditioned to attack, left hungry, or chained up for their entire life, yes.........they can be aggressive!

Can CHILDREN always tell the difference? Absolutely Not!! Can their parents that should be supervising them? Absolutely!! Unless...they have treated an animal in a manner less than what it deserves!!

Again, the problem is not dogs. It's their poor excuses for custodians, be it the owners or the authorities!! While not all of us have the money to properly care for an animal, we do have the ability to make a phone call, and ask for help!!

If anyone would like to email me I can give you a story of our first trip to Bonaire...
This thread says enough, but we are amoung the "small portion" of Bt'ers that have come "in contact" with roaming dogs. We have also come in contact with very friendly roaming dogs.
We vacation on Bonaire 2 times a year since 1996 and love it...but we did have an incident with street dogs on our first trip in 1996.
At that time we chalked it up to being in the wrong place at the wrong time and not knowing the island, as this was our first visit.

Harrie,,,has the owner of the dogs been in contact with you or the police?

Hello Meryl,

Thanks for the reaction, you won't believe how many reactions we've had about people or friends/relatives having been attacked by dogs. It is sad that most of the stories are "hear-say", and I know the moderators have difficulties with that. Not much documented.

Now I can imagine what happens to you when such a dog bites you, it is difficult or even impossible to forget. My wife is still having a lot of trouble with it. Perhaps she will need professional help. For now, they will both not go for a walk anymore. Sad, isn't it, with such a beautiful island?

Yes the owners showed up at the hospital that very morning. And they were apologising very much. The next day (day 2) they called, and after that silence.
They promised to pay all the bills, and actually they paid the hospital-bill, all the other bills (doctor, anti-biotica, tetanus-injection, bandages and so on), they didn't pay up to now. Perhaps they will. All together quite a lot of money.
Now their dog is put in quarantaine, and perhaps will be put to sleep, due to our actions, they might change their opinion about paying.
We'll see..


Harrie