What happens to caught strays?. Look to developed countries on stray care: NGO
Published on: Saturday, August 03, 2024
By: Shirley Khong
.jpg "What happens to caught strays?. Look to developed countries on stray care: NGO")
Our report on July 24
THE Hotline column in Daily Express on July 24, 2024, carried this title, “Traps set up to catch stray dogs in Penampang”.
What happens to these stray dogs that have been trapped by the councils?
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While it is easy for the Penampang Council to trap these strays upon receiving complaints what is their plan after capture?
In the past we know the Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) would trap stray dogs upon receiving complaints and dump them at any far away location without neutering/spaying these strays or have any thought for their well-being, survival, etc and because they have not been desexed, soon another colony of dogs will appear.
Not only that but because dogs are territorial the newly-dumped dogs will have to fight for their survival, leaving injuries and wounds and there will, of course, be no vet or medical care for them.
What does the council care? They are only stray dogs, stray local kampung dogs, not pedigrees! No thought is given to how these strays will survive etc.
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Whether kampung dogs or pedigrees, they are still living creatures and deserve a chance at a decent life. It is just like a human being. If one is rich and the other is poor is it okay if the poor one is ignored and is picked up and taken away to some dark obscure, unknown place just to please the rich ones?
The government must have a proper plan for captured dogs. The government must allocate land for a dog shelter for captured dogs to be released to, a piece of land of five to six acres in a decent location.
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An annual financial allocation should also be allocated to animals yearly of say about RM3-RM5 million. This will cover the cost of two or three caretakers, food and medical for the dogs. Strict rules must be adhered to.
For example if a stray is not adopted after a year or whatever (to be discussed) it will be put down humanely and dogs must be desexed upon arrival at the shelter. And other rules and regulations to be discussed in detail!
It would indeed make Sabah a good State, putting us on par with other advanced countries as to how we treat our strays.
It is up to the government to enforce all rules strictly and there should be no exceptions no matter who, whether one is a rich man or a poor man, a high ranking officer or a lowly ranked officer.
We must have proper planning in place for the sake of the dogs and cats and not just blindly capture and release. Dogs are, after all, living creatures with feelings and they are more loyal and faithful than any human, we may add. Their love is unconditional and they will always do their best to protect their master which is more than what we can say about humans
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