(TH) No Kill City

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Fw: [pfabgl-forum] Digest Number 208

http://dogsinthenews.com/issues/0108/articles/010814a.htm

 

Cease Fire: Governor Halts Slaughter of 100,000 Dogs

 

August 14, 2001 Bangkok, Thailand

Burying the hatchet on an age-old policy of slaughtering stray dogs,

the new governor of Bangkok, Governor Samak Sundaravej, has called for bold,

progressive measures to end the city's stray dog overpopulation by means of

a spay-neuter program rather than killings.

 

Until now, roaming dogs had been dealt with severely, as is still the

case with many nations that lack the resources or wisdom to implement a more

efficient policy. Street dogs are generally killed by means of strychnine

poisoning, by no means a painless death.

 

Late last month, the Governor made an announcement recognizing that

the ongoing poisonings were inhumane and running counter to Buddhist

beliefs. Governor Sundravej, who celebrated the first anniversary of his

four-year term two weeks ago, has studied the situation and believes that a

sterilization program will successfully curb the stray proliferation,

leading to zero population growth by the end of his political term. At the

same time, strays will be given free rabies vaccinations before being

released.

 

The latest dog census, taken in 1999, reported that Bangkok's canine

population amounted to 633,814, of which about 115,084 were strays. The

Bangkok dog population increases an average of 10% per annum, but should

drop dramatically if all strays are neutered, said Bangkok Metropolitan

Authority officer Pornthip Thingprasert, speaking on behalf of Governor

Sundravej's administration.

 

With this new policy, Bangkok joins the ranks of front running

dog-friendly cities such as New Delhi, Madras and Bombay where stray dogs

are picked up, vaccinated, given veterinary care, sterilized and then

returned to their original locales (read " What They Do to Strays in

Mangalore " http://dogsinthenews.com/issues/0104/articles/010418b.htm ).

 

Visionaries such as India's Union Minister Maneka Gandhi have not only

fought for the welfare of their own nations' animals, but have also proposed

these initiatives to other countries faced with similar situations. However

the shedding of the draconian mentality is slow-going. In Bucharest,

Romania, Mayor Basescu's dog cull continues to this day, a bloody,

international embarrassment that has only succeeded in dividing the citizens

and pitting them violently against one another, with tens of thousands of

dogs as the unwitting hostages.

 

Even the United States, which prides itself on being at the forefront

of animal-rights policymaking, considers the sterilize/release of dogs

unthinkable, while 1.3 million dogs are killed each year in shelters and

animal control facilities (source: NCPPSP 1997).

 

All the same, for 100,000 dogs in Bangkok, today is a great day to be

alive.