Singapore
1,521 pedigree dogs dumped
CAROLYN QUEK & APRIL CHONG
28 February 2008
Straits Times
SINGAPOREANS are dumping their pedigree dogs, once prized for their rarity, at an 'alarming' rate, according to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
More than half of the 3,002 unwanted dogs the society took in last year, or 1,521 animals, were purebreds.
According to the society's executive officer Deirdre Moss, purebreds made up a quarter of the unwanted dog population in the 1980s and grew to almost one-third in the 1990s.
The increase comes as more owners import pedigrees from outside the country.
Leading the pack of breeds that showed up at the society last year were golden retrievers and Jack Russell terriers.
The pedigree dogs the SPCA sees now are younger than before, with most being one to four years old, she said.
Not having the time to look after their pet was the most common reason owners cited for surrendering the animals, the SPCA said.
To curb the the increasing numbers of pedigree dogs being imported, bred and sold here, the SPCA had suggested that the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) restrict their supply.
But the AVA, in a response to the society, said it 'would not be appropriate' to restrict the number and type of dogs.
'We understand the SPCA's concerns but would like to reiterate that Singapore operates on a free market system,' said AVA's head of the centre for animal welfare and control, Mr Madhavan Kannan.
The SPCA warns against impulse pet purchases and urges potential pet owners to carefully consider the implications of dog ownership.
Source: The Straits' Times, Thursday, Feb 28, 2008, H9 Home (accessed from Factiva)
"Singapore operates on a free market system" -- I find this statement extremely problematic and come to terms with. It means that all the while that Singapore, or the Centre for Animal Welfare and Control, has existed, the animal welfare business has been run on a 'free market system'; it lacks a good measure of ethnical considerations for the very welfare of the 'products', that your selling, buying, production, reproduction, transport, import and export, transfer of your animals, deny that your products are sentient, living beings.
Where abandonment numbers are so glaring, we cannot simply stick to 'Singapore running on a free market system'. This will apply if and only if the situation is ideal, i.e., every owner/petshop/breedining farm is responsible for his/her animal(s).
And if this is indeed your stand, then, please remove the word 'Welfare' from this title. There is no form of desired welfare, only 'control'.
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3 comments:
I share your views very much. However, do we also have a free system for strays and abandoned animals. If so, they will be allowed to roam freely in designated places and not be culled. Have always wondered what the welfare policy for animals covers. I see lots of control but little or no welfare for the animals.
If "free market system" caused so many unwanted dogs, then AVA should seriously review the "Advantage" of this system! ~~gL
Indeed it is a bloody shame that AVA has the word "welfare" it it. It is a death house where day after day animals are put to death.
It is time a "first world" country has a Animal Humane Society run by people who are genuinely concerned about animal welfarism!
Read Said K Madhavan, head of the centre, "They would harass people, harass cyclists and there would be incidents of biting and it's also to save them from misery."
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