Stakeholder Consultation to Develop Pet Trade Toolkit

September 13, 2013

The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) will be hosting a Pet Trade Forum to guide the trade and sale of pets in Jamaica.

The forum is being coordinated through the Agency’s Centre for Agricultural Bio-Science International/United Nations Environment Programme (CABI/UNEP) Mitigating the Threat of Invasive Alien Species in the Insular Caribbean (MTIASC) Project.

Members of the commercial pet trade sector, pet owners, non-governmental organizations, policy makers, and other stakeholders are invited to the Pollyana Caterers and Banqueters on Tuesday, 17 September (Pet Traders/Owners) and Wednesday 18 September (Gov’t. and NGOs) at 9:00am to help develop a Pet Trade Pathway Toolkit to guide pet sellers and owners in their decisions when introducing pets into the country and homes respectively.

A consultation will also be held in Montego Bay, St. James at the Altamont West Hotel on Friday 20 September at 9:00am

For many Jamaicans, having a pet is comparable to having another member of the family. But there are risks involved in owning a pet. Owners are sometimes unable to provide the required pet care, resulting in pets running away, or owners releasing or abandoning them. This action puts the pets and the environment at risk.

Pet abandonment has become one of the most common pathways for animals to become Invasive Alien Species (IAS). Invasive alien species are animals or plants that have been relocated (intentionally or otherwise) from their natural environment to a new environment where they establish, spread, and cause harm, for example, the Lionfish.

Invasive Alien Species can have devastating consequences for human, animal, and plant health through the spread of diseases. The Pet Trade Pathway Toolkit aims at safeguarding pets, protecting biodiversity and human livelihoods.