Health ministry blames irresponsible owners of cats and dogs for the spread of rabies

[Airbagwill]

"The Ministry of Public Health yesterday blamed the spread of rabies in the country on irresponsible pet owners" - nothing to do with the Ministry, then?

[graemeaylward]

Such a law would be unenforceable. Apart from the problem of identifying the irresponsible owners, what about the thousands of strays?
 

The way to identify the owners is to hit the dogs with a car! Many people will come forward to claim the dog as theirs and demand compensation! P.s. I am not advocating aiming cars at dogs, just being sarcastic.

Sent from my Lenovo A3000-H using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[PatOngo]

LOS....Land of Strays.

[Sydebolle]

Rarely read more rubbish. In 1998 the Swiss TV produced, by Dr. Moser, a movie in Bangkok about stray dogs and cats. Among others he went to see and film the good work of Dr. Henry Wild, a Canadian veterinarian on the Red Cross' facilities on Henry Dunant Road. 

Dr. Wild then already said that Thailand had, 20 years ago, an estimated 10 million stray animals and the number would only increase "for cultural reasons". 

Unless the government goes to clean up the act ...... Thailand will be overrun but all these stray animals which live a miserable life. And they can start at the door stop of almost every 7/11 which is the preferred resting and chilling place. 

[arithai12]

13 hours ago, coulson said:

Soi/ beach dogs never had owners

You and I would say that, but to the people that feed them it's another story. It's their dog if you harm it, or they have never seen it before if it harms you.

[Stargeezr]

A dead dog does not bite. Since there are so many strays and soi dogs in the country, trying to

vaccinate all of them is pretty much impossible, so culling a lot of them will help the overpopulated

situation. The people who feed these dogs but not taking any home are not helping at all.

 So how many more people will die of rabies before anything is done.

Geezer

[robertthesculptor]

Always easy to play the blame game....party on

[Thian]

34 minutes ago, graemeaylward said:

The way to identify the owners is to hit the dogs with a car! Many people will come forward to claim the dog as theirs and demand compensation! P.s. I am not advocating aiming cars at dogs, just being sarcastic.

Sent from my Lenovo A3000-H using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

Or scare the dog with a huge mastiff dog and see which house it runs into. They are the owners.

[Moti24]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

The Ministry of Public Health yesterday blamed the spread of rabies in the country on irresponsible pet owners.....

That's it, direct the blame anywhere but where it should go!

 

The irresponsible pet owners have only contributed to the problem, mainly because nobody has given a rat's arse about stopping the abandonment of unwanted pets, allowing the whole population to discard anything that they don't want, including rubbish, to anywhere they see fit.  This practice has surely been going on since sometime during the last millennium, probably sooner.

 

It's about time that somebody in authority here accepted responsibility for not doing what they have already been paid to do, instead of passing the buck at any opportunity.  Words mean nothing here; get off your backsides and start contributing to Thailand 4.0, instead of sitting in your smug little offices, working-out how to further scam the taxpayer.

[Peterphuket]

19 hours ago, GarryP said:

The trouble is that now probably more than 80 percent of the strays in Bangkok or other large towns and cities never had an owner. They were born on the street. So while penalizing pet owners may reduce the number of pets being dumped, it does not address the matter of the existing strays.  

Always blaming someone else that is so easy by the government, it would be better if they took the blame themselves, but yes that is losing your face.

[Krungbin]

...and who is the irresponsible owner of all stray dogs and cats of the country? And where are the "responsible" politicians of the country who didn't tackle this well known problem before?

[fullcave]

18 hours ago, GarryP said:

The trouble is that now probably more than 80 percent of the strays in Bangkok or other large towns and cities never had an owner. They were born on the street. So while penalizing pet owners may reduce the number of pets being dumped, it does not address the matter of the existing strays.  

Most were dumped but don't make it, the ones that do last no more then a year at best with few exceptions. A litter of puppies along with their mother being dumped on the road to get run over becomes the Buddha's responsibility. 

[toofarnorth]

I think the stray problem will escalate and the more it does the more the blame will be put on other ministries , Burying your head in the sand comes to mind .  Someone has to do something but right now it is 'pass the buck '. It will come back and bite someone on their rhetorical <deleted> .

[hotchilli]

19 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Finally, is that a bit of common sense I detect?

doubtful.... most rabies infections are caused by stray animals... which don't have owners

I'd say it's high time to get tough and do something positive about all the soi dogs & cats...

[Belzybob]

15 hours ago, coulson said:

Soi/ beach dogs never had owners

Until you run one over.

[RichardColeman]

19 hours ago, keith101 said:

the best way would be to simply sterilise every stray dog and cat and any that owners are prepared to contribute to the cost of the service to eliminate the excessive amount of Soi dogs everywhere in this country , the passing of a law to make it mandatory could help the cause as well .

Absolute, total nonsense.

Yes, I am sure that the fact you or one of your family gets bitten by the stray mongrels that had been 'neutered' or has rabies will be of great comfort when you are in hospital. And a for owners paying - why should a responsible dog owner pay for someone that chooses to throw away their dog ? Put a tax on the people that care is total madness. Kill them. Wipe them out.  Then make all dogs have to be chipped, so all stray dogs after can be identified and owners fined. Problem solved.

[pattayadon]

20 hours ago, GarryP said:

The trouble is that now probably more than 80 percent of the strays in Bangkok or other large towns and cities never had an owner. They were born on the street. So while penalizing pet owners may reduce the number of pets being dumped, it does not address the matter of the existing strays.  

There it is!

[Kasset Tak]

With a law that protect the dogs if they attack and not the attacked then there can be no changes...
First time I was bitten by a dog here in Thailand I took it to the police, basically they told me that the owner don't have any obligation to pay me anything and if I would have hit/hurt the dog while it attacked me I would have been on my way to prison...

 

[spidermike007]

It is typical of this ministry to not take any responsibility for a health epidemic. Small men, with little to no experience in their fields, who simply are looking to deflect blame, as they have never in their careers come up with any solutions, to anything.

 

Leaving the soi dogs alone, is a good way of culling the Thai population. Not a good idea. They simply need start a nationwide culling program. Most soi dogs are a nuisance. Most are mangy, some are disease ridden, many are hungry, tired, and lead terrible lives of desperation. Some attack people, some terrorize neighborhoods. Many harass the domestic dogs, and cause them to bark all night long, like in my neighborhood. Nobody wants to do anything about it. Culling is the answer. If they found a budget for it, they could do it Western style. Round up the dogs, clean them up, vaccinate them, and put them up for adoption. The ones who are not adopted after 60 days are simply put down. Nothing cruel about it. Not doing something like this, is both cruel to the dogs and to the neighborhoods they infest. 

 

•  

Edited March 20, 2018 by spidermike007

[sandrabbit]

1 hour ago, arithai12 said:

You and I would say that, but to the people that feed them it's another story. It's their dog if you harm it, or they have never seen it before if it harms you.

Here in Rayong it was announced last year on the community PA that anyone who could be proved they were feeding soi dogs and the dog(s) attacked anyone they would be held responsible. When the King's daughter goes cycling along the beach road there is not a soi dog in site.

[Cake Monster]

Irresponsibility !

 

Surely not from Thais, or maybe its all the Farang dog and cat owners.

[MaxLee]

20 hours ago, stanleycoin said:

Worst finger pointing this year.

coming from the Ministry of do nothing for years.

Well every Ministry in Thailand is a Ministry of Doing Nothing........... Those are lazy animals themselves..

[Annunaki]

Easy answer to the dog problem is to bring in mandatory microchips for dogs.

If a dog is running loose on the street and is not micro-chipped, then it is a stray and can be taken away and humanely put down.

If a dog is running loose on the street and is micro-chipped, then the owner could be fined.

 

As for cats, is this not the reason why we have BB guns?

[farcanell]

21 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Finally, is that a bit of common sense I detect?

Perhaps.... but if so, don’t expect it to last

[Cake Monster]

So you actively condone shooting cats with BB guns do you ?

 

Sick

 

[SooKee]

21 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Finally, is that a bit of common sense I detect?

Indeed.  But will the powers that be have the sense to join up the dots, work out what the problem is (including the simple solution) and actually DO something about.  Methinks not.

[sawadee1947]

It's typical Thai way to blame somebody else. To lose face again is the obcstacle and that the govt failed to provide vets and vaccines is impossible of course

[sawadee1947]

47 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

culling the Thai population.

All Thai people or only the bad ones....?

[connda]

Well, that's a first step.  The government finally acknowledges that owner who allow their pets to roam free are irresponsible. 
Now, the next logically step is to start a program to register, tag (collar tag identifying the owner), rabies tag, and round up strays.

[spidermike007]

4 minutes ago, sawadee1947 said:

It's typical Thai way to blame somebody else. To lose face again is the obcstacle and that the govt failed to provide vets and vaccines is impossible of course

 

Face is no doubt, the greatest form of weakness, a human can engage in. Many will say it is societal, cultural, etc. No matter. It is the absolute and complete lack of the ability to introspect, and look within for the source of any problem, shortcoming, conflict, or issue. It is the polar opposite of spirituality, and therefore an absolute scourge on Buddha, and all of the precepts he taught. By practicing face, you are denying your spiritual heritage. You are refusing to man up. To take responsibility for your actions. If a man or a woman cannot, and will not take responsibility for their actions, the problems they create, the mistakes they make, and the issues they involve themselves in, what are they? Are they still an adult? Are they a complete individual, if they allow themselves to be limited by such infinitely small social convention? 

 

Who cares what people think of you? For those of us with high self esteem, it just does not matter. Sure, close friends and family. But strangers on the street? Who gives a rat's butt about this? It means nothing what they think, nor what they say about you. They count for nothing. They are just people, and people you do not know, nor will ever see again. Face is rife with self doubt, and by subscribing to this weakness, and man or woman is made a far lesser person. For those of us with high self esteem, we know who we are. What others think, what society thinks, what a guy or gal thinks, means less than zero.

Real men or women, simply own a situation, and take responsibility for their errors or mistakes. Small men, social deviants, or emotional adolescents deflect, obfuscate, attempt to confuse, and do everything in their power to deny that they made a mistake, or that they are responsible in any way, or on any level. They make up narratives about fake news, or alternative facts. Anything to avoid looking within, for the source of the problem. Anything.