Attack on child in Chiang Mai prompts action against strays

[webfact]

Attack on child prompts action against strays

By NISANART KANGWANWONG, 
KRIANGKRAI RATTANA 
THE NATION

 

 

AGGRESSIVE stray dogs will be taken off the streets of Chiang Mai’s Doi Saket district, after an attack on a toddler on Sunday. 

 

The 14-month-old girl is now receiving treatment at a local hospital. 

 

 

She has more than 100 bite wounds and is being given antibiotic injections every eight hours to ward off infection. 

The attack occurred while she was playing in front of her house and her injuries could have been fatal had workers nearby not intervened in time. 

 

The case has shocked people in the neighbourhood, underlining the fact that stray dogs are too serious a problem to continue to be overlooked. 

 

The girl’s father, Saengpetch Suwanmanee, had reported more than 30 stray dogs roaming the streets near his house. 

 

 

Doi Saket district chief Atthacha Kampanartsaenyakorn agreed yesterday that urgent action was called for. “It’s necessary that we catch aggressive strays and put them in animal shelters,” he said.

 

He also vowed to make sure that all other strays are sterilised with the help of livestock officials. 

 

According to Atthacha, local residents had also offered to immediately put aggressive stray dogs in cages to prevent them from attacking more people. The parents of the young victim have already agreed to provide a corner of their land for people to place cages. A pig farm nearby, whose animals are often killed by stray dogs, has also promised to partially pay for the installation of the cages. Workers from local council bodies will also contribute. 

 

“As for the hospitalised girl, we will help to pay for her medical bills as some of her treatment is not covered by the universal healthcare scheme,” Atthacha said. 

 

The district chief was speaking after he convened a meeting on how to solve the problem of stray dogs. 

 

The meeting had actually been scheduled before the latest attack. 

 

Present at the meeting were representatives of local livestock offices, the Tambon Choeng Doi Administrative Organisation and the Tambon Luang Neua Administrative Organisation. 

 

Atthacha said local administrative bodies used to pay for female strays to be sterilised but had stopped the practice after the Office of the Auditor-General said this was not within their jurisdiction. 

 

He also claimed the |stray-dog population in the area had risen significantly since the Office of the Auditor-General decided to halt sterilisations. 

 

“They [local administrative bodies] were told livestock authorities had to handle such jobs,” he said. 

 

Atthacha said his office also intended to raise public awareness of the problem with strays and encouraged people to never abandon their pets. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30357943

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-11-06

[HappyAndRich]

This is not only a problem in Chiang Mai. I say, exterminate all of them on a nationwide scale.

[blackhorse]

If a previous pm was able to execute 3000 dangerous humans then surely getting rid of 30,000 dangerous and diseased animals shouldn't be a problem.. Oh wait they are dogs who rate higher

[ryane66]

Sterilize then release. My goodness , do these officials even possess any brains.

[helloagain]

1 hour ago, HappyAndRich said:

This is not only a problem in Chiang Mai. I say, exterminate all of them on a nationwide scale.

Yes yes yes kill the bastards

[dinsdale]

Once again re-active not pro-active. Nation wide cull of these ferals is what's needed. ????

[AhFarangJa]

Isn't it always the way. Everyone knows the problem with feral dogs, no-one in authority wants to take responsibility. Then some innocent little girl gets savaged and everyone jumps up from behind their desks in their cosy little sinecures to join the "We have to do something, look at me I am going to fix this" brigade. Absolutely disgraceful. 

Wishing the little girl a speedy recovery, lucky she was not killed.

 

As an aside, when the father has already reported over 30 stray dogs outside his house, what was a 14 month old baby doing playing in the road unsupervised.......

[worgeordie]

"that urgent action was called for. "

Its always AFTER the fact. an accident waiting to happen,it happens,better 

do something now

regards worgeordie

[Bob12345]

As always nobody is responsible. Not the local government, not the ones feeding the dogs, not the ones letting their dogs roan free...  nobody.

 

And thats why it will never be solved.

 

How about making the local government responsible for these things? Sue them for the hospital bills and extra damages and see how quickly things improve when the fat lazy bastards start missing their bribes when all the money is being paid out to victims of their neglect.

[maxcorrigan]

32 minutes ago, Bob12345 said:

As always nobody is responsible. Not the local government, not the ones feeding the dogs, not the ones letting their dogs roan free...  nobody.

 

And thats why it will never be solved.

 

How about making the local government responsible for these things? Sue them for the hospital bills and extra damages and see how quickly things improve when the fat lazy bastards start missing their bribes when all the money is being paid out to victims of their neglect.

You run over one of them, you will soon find out whose responsible though!

[Rhys]

YADA, so it is new for a bit, then back to the same issues and sadly deaths to come..

 

[johng]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

“It’s necessary that we catch aggressive strays and put them in animal shelters,” he said.

 

He also vowed to make sure that all other strays are sterilised with the help of livestock officials. 

Catch them and put them to "sleep"   (A quick cheap and permanent solution)

 then everyone can also sleep well knowing  the kids,cyclists,walkers and just about anyone else won't be bothered by the vermin ever again.

 

[digger70]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

“It’s necessary that we catch aggressive strays and put them in animal shelters,” he said.

What a big joke this is. That will never happen. Even if they catch a few mutts and put them in a shelter how long before they let them out again? what they are going to do, leave the other million of mutts on the lose so they can attack people? It happens every day, around here the dogs chase motorbikes people fall and some get bitten. There's only one cure, it works 100% ,,,, Exterminate,,,, over and done.

[quandow]

If that were my daughter, I'd take action that I can't post here.

[richard_smith237]

4 hours ago, ryane66 said:

Sterilize then release. My goodness , do these officials even possess any brains.

 

Its the cost and time issue - Sterilisation is not practice in such numbers and no government body is prepared to go to such expense.

 

The only solution as I see it is to 'see the problem disappear quietly out of sight of the public'... i.e. culling... Its brutal, its cruel, its inhumane... but dogs are not human and when they pose such a frequent danger to humans a firm decision needs to be made. Its an unfortunate situation to be in, but its one which needs to be faced with a degree of reality. This unfortunately means for a period of time we (humans) need to take responsibility and take action we would prefer not to take. Again, culling, quick, fast... solve the issue in one fell swoop. 

 

 

 

[Redline]

Another crackdown with no longer term solution 

[Classic Ray]

My wife “rescued” two kittens from the street, we spent a fortune at the vets but they both still died as they were infected with feline aids. Most of the street animals here are not strong and robust, they are in bad health. Best solution is to euthanize them, but many vets here reluctant to do this, some distorted religious view that it’s better to let them suffer and injure each other and humans. Government won’t do anything as it costs money and doesn’t supply any profit to officials.

[stevieboy2]

Poor thing needs to suffer from this and will traumatized her whole life.

Just go to Hua hin beach and see them all just running wild and chasing people.

Bastards should all be rounded up and put away.

[Peterphuket]

I don't know, Prayut have children but I am convinced once his child is attacked, the same day there is a solution.

[giddyup]

3 hours ago, markaoffy said:

When living in Ayutthaya I used my own methods for dangerous Muts! They loved meat, and if laced with some chemicals... well it was an excruciating death !

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

 

 

It's one thing to euthanise dogs humanely, it's another to actually take pleasure in causing them an agonising death.

[jesimps]

7 hours ago, HappyAndRich said:

This is not only a problem in Chiang Mai. I say, exterminate all of them on a nationwide scale.

I agree wholeheartedly even though I like PET dogs. There are 20 odd in my small community they could start with. Noisy beggars.

[KKr]

Doi Saket district chief Atthacha Kampanartsaenyakorn agreed yesterday that urgent action was called for.
“It’s necessary that we catch aggressive strays and put them in animal shelters,” he said.

but I say put stray dogs down.
and tag "legal" dogs whose tag-owners then become responsible for the dog's behavior.

[HappyAndRich]

17 minutes ago, jesimps said:

I agree wholeheartedly even though I like PET dogs. There are 20 odd in my small community they could start with. Noisy beggars.

Right, I have 3 dogs myself. That I take care of of course. Walking out with them in leech 3 times a day, picking up their litter, feeding them and playing with them. Even built a dog house in the garden of 30 sqm. When I close the gate they can run free in the garden of course. That´s how to take care of dogs. All others is just to get rid of. By the way, I am all for registration and tax om dogs too. I just thought that 450 as was a suggestion is too small. For people to take care of their dogs it must be at least 1500-2500 per year.

[CALSinCM]

Remember: Soi dogs and feral dogs have more rights than humans.  Defending your child from a dog attack can land you in prison for animal cruelty.  But then again, if it was my child, I'd disable the dog(s) in any manner necessary to stop the attack and deal with the consequences at a later date including hiring a lawyer to defend my action and to sue the hell out of the owner of the animals and have them put down as a public menace.  And I'm a dog owner.  If one of my dogs savaged a child, I'd take responsibility and my dog's days would be numbered.  There is no excuse.

[CALSinCM]

4 hours ago, markaoffy said:

When living in Ayutthaya I used my own methods for dangerous Muts! They loved meat, and if laced with some chemicals... well it was an excruciating death !

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

 

 

And when you're caught, you'll be jailed as you should be.  And if I knew who you were I'd turn you into the authorities myself. 
What you have stated is against the law, and being against the law it is also breaking forum rules.

[CALSinCM]

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Its the cost and time issue - Sterilisation is not practice in such numbers and no government body is prepared to go to such expense.

 

No but I'd support a local private organizations such as the Soi Dog Foundation if they were formed in my local area.  Heck, I'd volunteer as I like animals and it would be a good use of my time..  Almost all dogs are salvageable and trainable, and the few that are not need to be put down.  Highly aggressive dogs don't need to be added to the gene pool but the method of euthanizing them needs to be compassionate and humane.  I have only accolades for organizations which concentrate on sterilizing the animal population and for providing low cost sterilization to low income families as well as public education.
Rabies on the other hand is a public health hazard to humans and as such the government need to get involved in providing vaccines nationwide.  If the government refuses to cull animal, then it's their responsibility to inoculate them so rabies isn't be passed on to humans.

[Johnnyngai]

I know many crazy people who feed stray cats and dogs, 

but they never clean up the feces the animals left behind.  

[BritManToo]

7 hours ago, ryane66 said:

Sterilize then release. My goodness , do these officials even possess any brains.

How does that stop them biting toddlers?

[marko kok prong]

imagine if this happened in Uk,Australia or most western countries,the Police would have rounded them up and they would be put down,same should be done here.

[Jonmarleesco]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

They [local administrative bodies] were told livestock authorities had to handle such jobs,” he said. 

And obviously, the livestock authorities are unaware of their role.