(CNS): A pack of vicious stray dogs that has been plaguing communities around the West Bay Road, from Snug Harbour to Camana Bay and now along Seven Mile Beach, attacking people and killing pets, is still on the loose, even though several dogs have been rounded up by the Department of Agriculture (DoA). Last week officials from the DoA and the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service met with concerned residents in the area, including Planning Minister Joey Hew (George Town North), whose family’s pet cat was killed by these feral dogs.

Over the last few weeks reports have been made about the animals attacking kids on their way to Cayman International School, people being badly bitten and several pet cats being killed.

CNS learned Wednesday that another two cats were killed this week, one of them at Britannia, where these increasingly wild dogs have apparently made their territory. A pet cat was also killed at Poinsettia Condos on Seven Mile Beach.

Over the last few weeks the DoA has trapped eight dogs, including one on Minister Hew’s property following the attack on his own cat. At the meeting last Tuesday, DoA Director Adrian Estwick confirmed that the captured dogs were euthanised due to their “extremely aggressive behaviour and territorial tendencies”.

He also stated that at least three dogs remained at large, but more recent reports to CNS from people in the area suggest that there are more than three dogs in the remaining pack, which appears to be expanding its territory across the West Bay Road through the Camana Bay and Britannia areas, as well as Snug Harbour and now parts of Seven Mile Beach.

Estwick said the department has plans for a public awareness campaign to educate pet owners about the Animals Law and their responsibility under the law. However, the problem seems to be that the dogs have been abandoned and there are no owners to track down or hold responsible, as many may have already left island.

Officials also admitted that even when they can identify owners who allow dogs to be in public without a leash, which is an offence, the cases have to go through a lengthy and costly court process.

The RCIPS and DoA will be undertaking joint community operations, and Superintendent Brad Ebanks and Inspector for Community Policing Courtney Myles have promised an increased police presence in the public areas where residents walk their dogs unleashed, such as the Britannia Golf Club and Camana Bay, and said that officers will be handing out the brochures and talking to dog owners.

Estwick said the public needs to be careful that they are not contributing to the problem by interfering with the traps that have been set for the wild dogs or feeding the animals. He and Inspector Myles encouraged everyone to continue to share information of sightings of the pack of dogs.