Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Aug 15, 2018 News
Not only is the Childcare and Protection Agency [CPA] looking into what could perhaps be one of the strangest cases of child abuse, but the mother of the child in question is simultaneously preparing to press charges.
The outlandish case is one which purportedly saw ‘animal rights advocates’ independently ‘sentencing’ a 14-year-old boy to community service at the National Zoo for committing the ‘crime’ of cruelty to an animal.
Based on reports reaching this newspaper, the boy has been subjected to hard labour [including cleaning animal pens, moving dirt and even feeding the manatees] at the Zoo for the past four weeks.
But the situation came to a head last week when the matter gained the attention of a child’s rights organisation which is working closely with the mother of the child to take legal action against the ‘animal rights advocates’.
The case is one that was yesterday brought to the attention of this publication by Ms. Bonita Montaque, a re-migrant who heads the United Bridge Builders Mission – a non-governmental organisation [NGO], which operates out of a Lot 81 John Street, Campbellville, Georgetown office.
The NGO, which has been in existence for some 26 years, has among its primary focuses HIV Prevention, Domestic Violence and Child Abuse.
Moreover, Montaque, who is also a former rank of the police force, said that it was just last week that she was contacted by a former colleague [the child’s maternal grandmother who resides overseas] to look into the case.
But the case, which involves Nicquan Sedoc, a student of the Buxton Secondary School had its genesis since in May. According to Montaque, while her former colleague had given some details of the case, she was appalled when she was given the full story by the mother of the child, Jerda Sedoc.
“The revelation is still unbelievable to me…,” said Montaque as she related the story shared by the mother of three last week.
Montaque said that she learnt that the child was involved in an incident, which resulted in the death of a dog in the village of Buxton.
Based on the child’s account, he had brought home two dogs, one of which he claimed was “sickly” and the other very small in size. The child claimed to have fed the two animals after which he placed the frail one on an old car nearby because he saw it was shivering.
Montaque said that during an interview she did with the boy, he revealed that because he thought the dog was gagging he wanted to help and therefore hit the dog’s back with a stick. “When I interviewed him, I asked why you didn’t use your hand, but he said he didn’t want the dog to bite him,” Montaque related.
But hitting the dog with the stick only resulted in it falling to the ground and eventually succumbing.
In an attempt to revive the dog, Montaque said the boy claimed to have thrown some water on the animal. Recognising that the animal was perhaps dead, the child informed his mother and continued to attend to the other dog.
About a month later when the memory of the frail dog was becoming dormant, the deputy head teacher of the Buxton Secondary School made contact with Nicquan’s mother enquiring whether she was aware of the death of the dog.
Although she responded in the affirmative, Jerda said that she was invited to visit the school where she met with the head teacher and afterwards was introduced to three individuals who expressed concern about the death of the dog. The three individuals, Montaque said, identified themselves as staff members of the GSPCA.
GPSCA is the acronym for the Guyana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is situated at Robb Street and Orange Walk.
Concerned about the act committed against the dog, the individuals, according to Jerda, said that they needed to interview her son and thus showed up at her home the following day.
But when she was prevented from listening in on the interview, Jerda said that she objected to her son being interrogated. In fact, she revealed that on at least two occasions the individuals showed up at her workplace and had related their concerns to officials there.
Her fear of losing her job was compounded by the disclosure of the ‘animal rights advocates’ that their failure to engage the child could result in him facing jail time.
No police ranks or even CPA Officers for that matter were present when the ‘animal rights advocates’ interviewed Nicquan, Jerda informed.
Following the interview, Jerda said that she was advised that the child had been sentenced to community service at the National Zoo and therefore must report to the institution each week Monday to Friday.
However, it was only after Jerda informed her mother about the situation after Niquan got injured while performing designated duties at the Zoo that the matter was brought to the attention of the CPA by Montaque.
In an invited comment to this publication yesterday, CPA Director Ms. Ann Greene said that she only learnt of the case last Friday and was able to hear from the mother for the first time yesterday.
“When it comes to a matter involving a child, there are only two agencies that have authority to deal with that – the Police Force and the Childcare and Protection Agency…” Greene asserted. She added, “People can’t just take such a matter into their own hands…even if he has done a bad thing, people can’t put a child through that, and we are looking into that case.”
The CPA Director also revealed that the child will have to undergo an evaluation.
“I have to ensure that that child is evaluated so that we can understand what is wrong with him; that is the right approach,” Greene shared.
Meanwhile, when this publication contacted one of the named ‘animal rights advocates’, she not only informed that she is not a staffer of the GSPCA, but that she was in no position to comment on the case. She said that, “the International Humane Society and the GSPCA are having talks and the matter is with the Child Protection Agency, and I can’t comment on it.”
But Jerda Sedoc said that she hopes that through legal intervention she will be appropriately compensated for complying with a non–existent ruling.
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