STI News: Give stray sterilisation policy time to work

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Give stray sterilisation policy time to work

 

 

 

I REFER to the letter, 'Sterilising cats has not solved problem' (ST, May 30),

by Mr Goh Shih Yong of the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) on the

culling of strays.

 

Mr Goh said that culling is carried out routinely to keep the number of strays

under control and that between the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to

Animals (SPCA) and the AVA, about 10,000 to 13,000 stray cats are put down each

year.

 

In case this was misconstrued, the SPCA would like to clarify that it does not

actively round up and cull healthy animals in an effort to reduce Singapore's

stray animal population.

 

The SPCA takes in more than 1,000 animals every month. This figure is made up

of abandoned and unwanted pets and strays which the public have either taken to

the SPCA or requested that the SPCA pick up (once confined).

 

It has never been the SPCA's role or desire to be involved in the mass

destruction of unwanted animals but, due to pet abandonment and a proliferation

of strays on the streets, it has had no choice but to put large numbers to sleep

because there are simply not enough homes to adopt them.

 

Restrictive rules with regard to the keeping of pets in Housing Board homes and

a proliferation of pets for sale have made it extremely difficult to ensure that

every animal can be saved. Only a lucky few have that privilege.

 

The SPCA is very often criticised for putting animals to sleep within a short

space of time.

 

However, the alternative of keeping them in cages on a prolonged basis is not

acceptable to the SPCA as an option, because it is not humane to keep an animal

confined under kennelling conditions, severely compromising its quality of life.

 

It is regrettable that more time could not have been given to the AVA's Stray

Cat Rehabilitation Programme to allow the efforts put in by the Government,

animal welfare groups and volunteers to bear fruit.

 

The SPCA would like to emphasise that sterilisation is a long-term solution and

should be given a chance to work.

 

Halting it now means time, effort and money will go down the drain, not to

mention the detrimental effect this will have on the control of strays in the

long run because culling alone has proven ineffective.

 

The destruction figures for decades are testament to this.

 

It has been reported that the culling is part of a current public health

clean-up and not because of Sars.

 

Unfortunately, it may be hard to disassociate the two in the public mind

because although the stray problem has existed for many years, only now has the

decision been made to take such drastic action.

 

For the record, the SPCA is deeply shocked and saddened by recent government

initiatives to intensify the culling of stray cats, and hopes that consultative

dialogue between animal welfare groups and the Government can take place to work

towards and achieve a more humane solution to controlling the stray animal

population in Singapore.

 

DEIRDRE MOSS (MS)Executive OfficerSociety for the Prevention of Cruelty to

Animals

IP Address:210.187.137.99