SSPCA works towards making Kuching a model for humane management of stray animal populations
Chan (left) and Tay share pointers with workshop participants on how to approach a dog in a safe and non-intimidating manner.
IF all goes well, an ambitious long-term programme, facilitated by Sarawak Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA), may put Kuching on the regional map as a successful model for humane management of stray animal populations.
Phase 1 was a large-scale survey to identify and locate stray dog populations around the city with help of volunteers and the cooperation of Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) and Kuching South City Council (MBKS).
The survey was carried out simultaneously in more than 40 zones by teams of two people in a two-hour period, SSPCA chairwoman Rebecca D’Cruz said during the Managing Animal Populations Training Workshop recently.
“Phase 1 was intended to get as many people out there within a given time frame to count dogs so that we could establish a baseline that would give us a point where we can start from. This was the first time that such a survey was carried out in Sarawak,” she explained.
Volunteers counted a total of 717 stray dogs in the zones surveyed. About five or six zones were identified as having high numbers of strays.
During Phase 2 after the Landas (monsoon) season, volunteers will return to these zones to try to ascertain why the numbers are
so high and to get more details which the initial survey did not capture.
“At the end of the day, this whole exercise is intended to allow us to pinpoint the areas we need to start our Trap Neuter Release (TNR) programme, areas where it can have a high impact. The TNR is purely intended to stop the breeding of strays,” D’Cruz said.
In a nutshell, TNR involves trapping strays in a particular area, neutering the animals, then returning them to their area of origin.
Stray animals have a shorter lifespan than pets, and if unable to breed, the overall population will naturally decline over time. If left unchecked, stray dogs breed as often as once every four months all year round with as many as 14 puppies per litter depending on the breed.
A large stray animal population not only strains the limited resources of councils, non-profit organisations and volunteers to treat, house, and re-home the animals, but also introduces public health and safety risks.
There is also the increasing public demand for more humane treatment of strays as well as growing public aversion to euthanasia as an option to manage stray animal populations.
No more strays?
A stray-free city may seem like a pipe dream to many – especially the city’s council workers, animal welfare organisations and independent animal rescuers who see cruelty on an almost daily basis in the hundreds of neglected, abused and abandoned animals they encounter every year.
“From all the research we’ve done and the experts from around the world we’ve spoken with, if you can trap and neuter 80 per cent of your baseline population in one TNR programme within one or two years, in very high likelihood, you will no longer have a stray animal population within five to seven years,” D’Cruz said.
“That’s what we are working towards. Our entire approach is to help show Kuching as a model — if you put the time and effort into doing something – and it’s not rocket science, you can do it. We want to test that here and if it works, we want to roll it out to the rest of Sarawak.”
However, timing is of the essence, D’Cruz emphasised.
“We have an opportunity that very few cities in Malaysia have — 717 is not very high. It looks very high but is actually not. If the survey was done in KK, it would be in the thousands. In KL it would be tens of thousands.
“What we have in Kuching is an opportunity to turn the tide. We have a very small window of opportunity to act. If we don’t do this in the next three to five years and make a serious effort – well, the breeding is continuing.
“The longer we wait, the bigger the problem. In three years, 717 could be 1,800. And then you have a bigger problem than we have now,” she cautioned.
Rebecca D’Cruz
It has not been an easy task to convince the local councils and state government to come on board since the SSPCA first approached them about it two years ago, D’Cruz shared.
Due to the lack of local case studies and stray animal population statistics, a few key decision-makers were and are still sceptical about the benefits of TNR and whether it could be successfully implemented in Kuching.
Those were among the reasons why SSPCA felt it was crucial to carry out last year’s survey so they could gather and monitor the data necessary to measure the effectiveness of the TNR programme.
Pushing ahead
Implementing the TNR – tentatively slatted for the middle of next year – will be a massive logistical undertaking to say the least.
In addition to planning for and sourcing funding for locations, facilities, accommodation, transport, equipment, manpower and medical supplies that best serve the programme’s objective within the span of time it has to work with, the SSPCA is presently discussing with Dogs Trust, the largest dog welfare charity in the United Kingdom, to bring over a team of volunteer vets.
The plan is to bring the vets in for a two-week period, operating full-time and with sufficient mobility to target certain areas.
A single neuter operation takes about 20 minutes, so potentially, a higher number of stray dogs can be targeted at one go in a short span of time compared to spreading out the TNR programme over several weekends and utilising the services of local vets who may not be able to commit such a large chunk of their time just to the programme.
The neutered strays will be released back to their areas of origin and these will be monitored over the next five years to document the impact of the TNR on the stray dog population, disclosed D’Cruz, who is hopeful the eventual results will finally convince the naysayers of TNR’s benefits.
She also pointed out the importance of government agencies, local councils and the wider community working together with animal welfare organisations and volunteers to humanely and effectively manage stray animal populations.
At the end of the day, the key factor towards making it a success is for everyone, especially the policy-makers and enforcers, to take ownership and responsibility over the management stray animal populations as well as in educating the public because it’s a problem which affects everyone.
Participants listen to one of the presentations.
Education and awareness
Any endeavour must also be supported with the right knowledge and skills.
To that end, the recent Managing Animal Populations Training Workshop organised by the SSPCA was aimed at people working with animals and with the community.
A total of 68 people attended the event, including municipal council representatives from Sibu, Miri, Kanowit and Serian; non-profit civil organisations, and independent animal rescuers.
D’Cruz said she was heartened by the public’s response.
“We expected to see people from the council and people we know working in animal welfare like Save Our Strays and our own volunteers. However, I was pleasantly surprised we also had concerned citizens — people who feed animals in the back lanes and housing areas – who wanted to attend. We even had two individuals coming over from Labuan.”
Presenters from Sarawak, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore covered a wide range of topics including how to capture stray dogs in a humane manner, how to implement a stray animal survey, identifying and treatment of common diseases in dogs and cats, and how to engage with pet owners and local communities through social media.
The presenters were D’Cruz, Anthony Sebastian of Aonyx Consultancy, Dr Nicholas Jenek from the Department of Veterinary Services, Julian Mathews of Trinetizen Media, Dave Avran of One Media Network, and Victoria Ting and Sophia Ting of Back2Back Ideas.
A special session on decoding dog behaviour by Singapore-based dog trainers Michelle Chan of Pup Pup ‘N’ Away and Maureen Tay of KasPup UniFURsity proved to be especially engaging as workshop participants were shown how to recognise common dog behaviour signals.
Dog owners and rescue volunteers also made full use of the opportunity to seek advice on how to handle dogs they had been having difficulty with.
The workshop was one of the many events and activities organised by the SSPCA in conjunction with the 2014 World Animal Groove Music Festival.