The state of animals at Pleasure Grounds, Port Louis

I urgently write to you to let you know of the shocking state of the animals at the pleasure Grounds in Port Louis. Yesterday, Madam Docteur François Bornand from Switzerland and I were spending a pleasant hour in this garden, appreciating the beauty of this historical area of Port Louis.

We were horrified to see the state in which the giant tortoises and the deer were kept. The tortoises were deep in muddy water, enclosed in a dirty pen, none of them were moving, some had their shells broken on their backs, and there was no food to be seen. The muddy pool in which they lived was swarming with mosquitoes and none of the tortoises looked alive or alert.

As for the deer and fawns, their state too was very stressful to witness. Their coats were patchy and the many bald areas all over their body, showed that they were not in a healthy condition and not properly fed. There were only a few leaves left there for them to eat. The people who came to give stale bread, said that they were only fed with cane leaves once a day in the morning.

They too were knee deep in muddy water, and their legs were black and constanly wet up to the calves. By the state of their patchy coats, we could tell that they were not in good health, nor their fawns. It is a shame that our children have to witness this sorry sight as part of their pleasure grounds.

We write to ask you to be kind enough to do something urgently about this state of affairs in the Municipality and we thank in advance for your care and attention to this matter and beg you to look into it as soon as possible.

Christine WARING Christa BORNAND