CNVR dogs will not be killed – SSPCA

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SSPCA dismisses the allegation posted by certain individual in Facebook that Sarawak government will kill all street dogs.

KUCHING: All street dogs that have already been vaccinated and neutered will not be killed as assured by the chairman of Sarawak Disaster Management and Relief Committee Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas in a meeting with local non-govermmental organisations (NGOs) recently.

Uggah who is Deputy Chief Minister, had given assurance after a meeting with Save our Strays (SOS) and Sarawak Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) recently that any dog with a double-collar that comes under SOS’ Capture, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return (CNVR) programme would be handed over to the SOS group.

With the assurance given by Uggah, SSPCA president, Datin Dona Drury-Wee reminded the authorities to protect the street dogs that have already been vaccinated and neutered, as these are the ‘immune soldiers’ on the streets that will keep dogs with ‘unknown status’, that is without an owner or no known history of vaccination, out.

“These dogs are what we call the CNVR dogs, under the Capture, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return. We are working with the government to get different collars with serial numbers to properly identify these dogs,” she said.

On the highly controversial campaign launched by certain individual online, she said many people misunderstood the notice which was given by Kuching South City Commission (MBKS) to alert dog owners that they would be going around Tabuan Jaya to catch free roaming dogs.

“That was what James Ritchie based his first article in Sarawak Tribune on. The first line is not true,” she said, referring to a Facebook posting by an individual who alleged that all street dogs in Sarawak will be killed starting from September 1.

She said SSPCA together with another non-governmental organisation (NGO), SOS are working around the clock to help the government to reach out to the public.

“SSPCA and SOS went on the ground with MBKS and Ministry of Local Government and Housing to help to educate owners whose dogs were caught roaming freely. This is to remind the owners that according to Council by laws, and the Veterinary Public Health Ordinance section 37, dogs must not roam freely and the owners can be subject to a hefty fine per dog,” she said.

She was very glad to note that although not the whole of Sarawak been infected by Rabies, the government has already done one round of free vaccinations for dogs in Sibu and Miri, in order to create some immunity there amongst the dogs.

“This is exactly what they should be doing and we are happy that they have vaccinated close to 80,000 dogs already,” she said, when asked to comment on the government weekly free mass anti-rabies vaccination programme.

She, however, wished that pet owners will be more proactive because many are still not taking the initiative to bring their dogs to the veterinarian for proper vaccination despite the weekly vaccination programme.

To ensure that people are aware of the rabies outbreak and the need to vaccinate their pets, she said they decided to go from house to house, starting from Batu Kawah.

“We did a house to house programme with the Ministry of Local Government in the Batu Kawah area and this is another approach that can be taken, but it requires a lot more manpower and more veterinarians to go around to each house to check. This is what Department of Veterinary Services has been doing in the villages in Serian,” she said.

For the long term programme, she said the society needs a more aggressive animal birth control programme to reduce stray problem.

“The other long term mitigation of the stray problem is a robust neutering programme, especially for those pet owners from the lower income groups. This is the only way to reduce the number of unwanted animals that are dumped in the streets, not vaccinated,” she suggested.

In noting that SSPCA has written to Uggah and Ministry of Local Government and Housing with a proposal for a low cost neutering clinic, she believed believed they are seriously looking into this matter.

“We hope it can be materialised soon. We all want to achieve a city that is free of strays and free roaming dogs and cats, but it will take time to change the mind set of the authorities and also the pet owners themselves.

“In some countries, it is compulsory to have your pet neutered unless you are a registered breeder. And this is something we have also brought up to the authorities. These are various steps that can be taken to reduce the number of strays that can’t find homes,” she said.

She also said that pet owners must know that a dog should only be walking outside its own compound if it is led on a leash.