Sustainable solution for strays

MY most recent pet adoption was a dog I picked up along a road on a rainy day.

I meant to have her spayed, but the veterinarian took one glance and said it was already done. The notch in her ear was an indicator.

In Penang, a stray dog with a notched ear has been trapped, neutered and either re-homed or, if no one adopts it, released at the spot where it was caught.

The programme, ongoing since March 2018, costs the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and donors almost RM60,000 a month.

Drive around Penang now and you will struggle to spot a pack of strays.

On a short trip to another state, I saw packs of dogs loitering at shophouses, markets and housing areas, and felt a quiet gratitude for the steady work achieved back home.

IAPWA Penang has been conducting the TNR programme in collaboration with MBPP since March 2018. —Filepic

The programme is a partnership between MBPP and International Aid for the Protection and Welfare of Animals (IAPWA) Penang.

From March 2018 to Sept 21 this year, 7,850 dogs have been neutered.

Seri Delima assemblyman Connie Tan, who as an MBPP councillor helped start the trap-neuter-release/rehome (TNR) programme, said there was resistance at first.

“We spent a lot of time on education and awareness, explaining to the public, authorities and even pet owners why neutering is the humane and sustainable way forward.

“People thought culling strays was the only solution,” she said.

A single female dog can bear two litters a year, each with as many as six pups.

Wipe out a pack and the food and space left behind invite others to move in or let survivors breed even more.

Biologists call it the “vacuum effect”: kill them and the population simply rebounds.

TNR works differently. Once most adults are neutered, packs stop growing.

Newcomers are fewer and easier to catch.

Over the years, their numbers naturally decline without the grim business of constant killing.

“Public education, persistence and community effort can transform an entire state’s approach to animal welfare,” Tan said.

MBPP councillor Lee Seng Hwai said the council now only trapped dogs upon complaints.

“From January to Sept 21, we neutered 708 stray dogs.

“Our system is to capture the dogs and, if no owner claims them within the set period, hand them to IAPWA.

“The dogs are neutered, vaccinated against rabies and treated for any wounds or illness.

“After that they are ear-notched for easy identification,” said Lee.

Dogs not adopted at IAPWA’s Jalan Sungai shelter in George Town are released where they were found or sent to private shelters.

IAPWA bears the cost of sterilisation and treatment through public donations, while MBPP covers maintenance and utility costs at the shelter.

Still, a state free of strays is hard to achieve. Lee said there were many cases of owners dumping unwanted dogs.

Yet Penang’s TNR programme has clearly worked, and local councils elsewhere would do well to study it.

Those wishing to help can look up IAPWA Penang’s social media platforms. You might even find a dog worth bringing home.