Street dogs/cats management update

An important purpose of my trip with V on last Tuesday was to make sense of the street dogs and cats populations along the routes she taxis and think about the next steps to take in bettering their plights, easing V's load and managing the populations of her animals.

Here's an encapsulation of part of V's experience as a caregiver. Behind every street animal, every community of cats or dogs, is a story tucked away in the innocence of stray life.

Case 1




V bemoans the ever-increasing number of dog she has to feed and keep an eye on. At her age, she finds it tougher as the frailty of old age creeps on her to tend to her dogs. Hurling bags of food, getting out of the car, talking to ignorant farm workers, beckoning for her dogs... can be sapping on her energy. At this place, an employee who is a dog lover herself feeds 4 adult females and 15 puppies. She intends to keep two of the puppies, and we're making long-term plans to capture and sterilise the elusive mothers. This is a mini sterilisation project we hope to benefit V and the farm.


Case 2


Our eight dogs (now 10, actually) are doing ok and greeting V ever-so enthusiastically. Come Tuesday, V will update me on the status of the plot where they reside. In the interim, we intend to apply special licenses for the rest of the dogs (outside the initial three), but this can get teethy with a land owner who has issues himself to solve and the authorities' resistance to this pack--often the subject of complaints by the people of the farm.


Case 3

The healthier, more dominant and confident males get to the food first

At this part, throngs of street dogs, some mange-inflicted, some healthy and some heavily pregnant, gallop towards V, the source of their daily nutrition. You can see from the above picture that a mother has given birth to over five puppies--the puppies are feeding from her teats. Main aim is to capture and spay the elusive and nimble mum, and seek the farmer's support in managing the small, scurrying puppies, who are learning from their mum to be instinctively wary of humans--including V.

One problem with this lot is that they reside at a farm whose owner is not keen on V entering her area to feed, so access could mean more conflicts. A headscratcher still.


Case 4

Scruffy (right, cream-coloured). As usual, she seems to be smiling and joyful all the time, but equally wary of us when we inch closer. The world, including the authorities, has been "after" Scruffy but she remains miles away from our grasp. Scruffy is always joined by abandoned pups that seek her for surrogate motherly care. The puppy in the picture is Scruffy's newfound child to baby. Again, hoping to sterilise Scruffy.


Case 5

Not far from Scruffy's group is Mama Rock, and the three friendly teenagers we had managed to neuter--thank goodness. Mama Rock on Tuesday seemed ok after her mysterious disappearance and bounded all around with meat chunks in her mouth. Thanks again for your support in her!


Case 6


This area... I just learnt 6 kittens were added to the colony near the dumpster. These cats used to be cared for by a caregiver but after an episode in which her personal safety was put into question, V took over and now daily slides under the gate trays of catfood for these unsterilised felines. To ease her load, we plan to trap and sterilise them asap.


Case 7

We are not sure if this female has given birth, but she seems to be on the brink of delivery.

This suburban spot is near where our neutered, collared, friendly hernia-girl was suspectedly culled and robbed of her earthly existence. Hernia girl left a few puppies who grew up and roam the field, and are on-and-off joined by other females, such as the one above with the bloated tummy--we don't know where her puppies are, or if they're alive, if she's given birth. In the immediate picture above, the female dog on the right is the friendlier one. At the very least, she should be sterilised.


With this rediscovery, there is a need to DO SOMETHING. This set of actions includes working with the farm people to locate the dogs, find out the times the elusive ones appear (often in response to feeding times), possibly engaging dog catchers, loaning traps, arranging with vets to sterilise them, neuter, vaccinate and microchip those we can get, boarding them after surgery, on top of feeding and transporting them. I'm foreseeing a mini 'project' of sorts that should stretch over time, but whatever it is, it's worth the try, even if we wrap up empty-handed. If we don't try, we won't know.

Dear supporters, do get in touch with us if you'd like to contribute to managing the street dogs and cats - projectjkteam@yahoo.com.sg

More updates to come as we progress. I believe good things will happen.

Thank you.