Friday, February 27, 2009

Stray dogs should be let go after sterilisation

My Paper
My Say
27th February 2009

THE Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) culls dogs and cats to keep their populations down.

I understand the numbers of strays have to managed to control the spread of diseases such as rabies.

However, I do not agree with how the AVA handles stray dogs.

They could be sterilised and released to let them live out their short lives.

This would be a more humane alternative than putting them up for adoption.

People should not believe that the best solution is for stray dogs to be adopted after being sterilised.

I tried adopting strays over the years but stopped doing so after noting that dogs which had lived as strays for more than two months could not adapt to a domestic environment.

While strays are better behaved than a lot of pedigree pets which are not trained or are spoilt or neglected by their owners, many friendly strays have been mistakenly seen as aggressive and have been beaten by humans.

Stray dogs in Singapore are in a sorry situation.

Ask guards at industrial estates about stray dogs and I can assure you that many would ppreciate the animals’ presence as they provide a sense of security and raise the alarm when something suspicious takes place.

Stray dogs have a place in Singapore, and it is humans who should be more responsible and treat them with graciousness.

Ms Shui Wei Nah

Be the voices for the stray dogs, write to

MS GRACE FU
Job Title : SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE - SMS
DID : 31067207
Email: GRACEFU@MND.GOV.SG
Unit: MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (MND)

Organisation: MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (MND)
Description: VISION
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