Ponder pup-friendly ways to manage strays

Local authorities should use humane ways to reduce the number of strays.

Local authorities should consider carrying out spay, neuter programmes periodically instead of taking lethal measures to control population

Animal lovers were outraged recently over Shah Alam City Council’s (MBSA) planned big-scale elimination of stray dogs.

Media reports had quoted a notice from the city council about an exercise to catch and kill 500 strays over three days in Setia Alam.

It also offered a RM30 reward for each dog caught with the help of volunteers.

However, MBSA councillor Simon Siow subsequently said the city council had no intention of killing the strays.

He clarified that the procedure was to catch the strays and if the animals were unclaimed after seven days, they would be sent to animal welfare organisations.

Tengku Permaisuri Selangor Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin, in a statement on the Selangor Royal Office Facebook page, had objected to MBSA’s plan and expressed her sadness on the matter.

The operation was then postponed indefinitely by Shah Alam mayor Datuk Cheremi Tarman.

The whole matter has since died down, yet I cannot help but wonder why local authorities are not getting to the root of the problem.

How about gradually catching the strays in different areas every month, neutering them before releasing them to where they were caught?

If MBSA is successful in reducing the stray population as a result, other councils can follow suit.

A forum on stray dog management held last year revealed that some of these animals are used to guard construction sites.

Once a development is complete, the dogs are left to fend for themselves.

Local councils should look into creating or modifying existing regulations to include requiring these dogs to be spayed or neutered by their owners.

Additionally, backyard breeders must be regulated to minimise instances of inbreeding.

Inbred dogs with genetic defects are abandoned because of the high medical cost to take care of them.

These unethical breeders should be taken to task.

There should be no compromise when it comes to dogs that are a danger to others as well.

In this respect, the authorities must be allowed to do their job.

Having said that, it should again be within reason and the authorities must not resort to lethal measures where possible.

There should be compassion and a sustainable solution when dealing with strays.

The authorities should not waste anymore time and should start neutering stray animals immediately.

All local councils must go all out to make use of every available resource, work with Veterinary Services departments and rope in veterinary interns if needed, as well as private animal clinics and relevant bodies to make the programme effective.

The country has a Veterinary Services Department with many vets under its payroll.

If all departments can work together to carry out a mass neutering of stray animals once a month, we will be able to reduce the stray population.

The authorities must also work with those feeding strays and have guidelines in place.

These feeders should be encouraged to take on the responsibility of spaying and neutering the animals too.

We need a long-term solution and this neutering programme is by far our best shot at humanely controlling the stray population.