cattle import, dog breeding, shooting of puppy and shark fins soup

[Guest guest]

The Star - Aussie cattle and goats

 

Demand for cattle and goats from Australia is high for the festive season

after reports that Thailand, the traditional supplier of the animals has

been hit by the deadly mad cow virus.

A.P.Krishnan, a meat importer, said he had doubled the quantity of animals

brought from Australia compared to last year following worries over the

safety of meat from Thailand.

3 000 goats and 200 head of cattle were imported from Australia, which took

about a week to arrive. Each head of cattle weighs between 280kg and 350kg.

The market price for each goat ranged between RM290 and RM320 depending on

the breed, while cattle were priced according to weight at RM4.90 per kg.

 

The Star 19.2.01 - Commercial Dog Breeding

 

Behind the sprawling farm-like facades of boarding kennels in Pasir Ris

Farmway 2 is a world where hundreds of dogs spend most of their lives

producing puppies for Singapore pet shops.

This is the world of commercial dog breeding. There are eight dog-breeding

farms in Singapore - five in Pasir Ris and three in Seletar West. Most of

them breed popular toy dogs such as Shih-tzus and Jack Russells.

Dog breeding and selling is a booming industry here. The number of pet

shops selling dogs has more than quadrupled in the past decade, from seven

in 1990 to 46 last year. Most pet shops get their puppies from the farms

where, according to Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) estimates there

are about 2 300 breeding age-dogs.

About 5 000 new dogs are licensed each year by dog owners, but many more are

bought here and not licensed. About 5 500 dogs are imported annually but

the number dropped to 3 922 last year. The downside to the puppy-buying

surge is that large number of dogs are being abandoned. The Singapore SPCA

took in 400 dogs last month. Up to a third of them probably came from pet

shops and farms originally, said SPCA executive offficer Deirdre Moss.

 

 

Letter to The Star 28.2.01. - Callous hunting down of puppy from the Vice

President of Ipoh SPCA, Dr Goh Hue Lang (via email)

 

We write this to strongly protest the unethical and unwarranted action of

the Ipoh City Hall dog-shooters who trained their guns on a six month-old

puppy and hunted down the animal within the compound of its owner recently.

This is a trespass and infringement of private rights.

 

Also the use of any firearm always carries a certain amount of risk. What

if people nearby, especially children, are accidentally injured? Even if

they are not harmed physically, consider what the shooting of their pets

would do to their tender emotions.

 

The least City Hall could have done was to summon the house owner to confirm

whether the dog was his. If it was and there was no licence on the animal,

then he cold have been warned and fined. May we voice the many practical

problems dog owners face in the matter of licences?

 

Over the last two years, they have experienced difficulties in getting

licences for their animals. There were delays in consignment and very

often, there were not enough tags to go round. By the middle of the year,

dog tags would run out and owners have to return yet another time to get

them. Another problem faced by dog owners is very often the licence tags

come loose and are not on the dog when the shooters come on their rounds.

 

Also, animals do wander out of their confines despite the best efforts of

their owners to restrain them. However, owners should bear in mind a

licence must be taken our on their dogs once they are three months old.

They should also be aware that even if their dog has a licence on it, owners

are not to let their pets out of their compound unless it is on a leash.

 

We understand the need for City Hall to carry its duties to rid the town of

strays in the interest of public health. But we do not condone cruelty and

inflexibility in their actions. All we appeal for is their discretion,

self-restraint, compassion and respect for private rights in the execution

of their duty.

 

TO ALL FRIENDS YOU CAN ALSO EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS ON THE PUPPY ISSUE VIA EMAIL

TO: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, THE STAR, PETALING JAYA. Email:

editor Just quote the name of the paper and the date.

 

Campaign to wean people off shark's fin

 

A kinder, gentler campaign to wean local appetites off shark's fin soup was

launched by the international conservation group WildAid and the

Singapore-based Asian Geographic magazine.

WildAid whose first Save The Shark campaign sparked off a heated exchange

in The Straits Times forum pages last July, is keen to stress that the

message is not " stop eating shark's fin but eat less of it. "

 

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