Bangkok Starts Assessing Canine Population

[george]

City starts assessing canine population

BANGKOK: -- A count is being made of all pet dogs in the city in preparation for compulsory registration and microchip-ping next year. City Clerk Nathanon Thavisin said the survey would enable the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to decide how many microchips to buy.

The city had already allocated 10 million baht for the first batch of 50,000 microchips.

The last survey on the city's dog population was made by the National Statistics Office nearly a decade ago. It found 600,000 pet dogs and 120,000 stray dogs in Bangkok at the time.

Khunying Nathanon said district officials are free to choose the survey method. Some would go door-to-door, but others may choose to send a letter to residents, notifying them of the process, asking that they give information on the phone. The survey would be completed by Dec 15.

Prasarn Bamrungpan, deputy director of the BMA's health department, said microchipping would probably start early next year and would be free of charge at first.

--Bangkok Post 2005-12-05

[leisurely]

That is very generous. Free microchipping. I know that it costs at least 45 pounds in the UK. Rather than chip them the govt. should ice them. The state of some of the soi dogs where we live is pitiful. Bald and mangy, starving and thin. The thing that amazes me is the pasive nature of the dogs. Seldom do you see a fight or agression.

[ratcatcher]

That is very generous. Free microchipping. I know that it costs at least 45 pounds in the UK. Rather than chip them the govt. should ice them. The state of some of the soi dogs where we live is pitiful. Bald and mangy, starving and thin. The thing that amazes me is the pasive nature of the dogs. Seldom do you see a fight or agression.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Absolutely true, the state of many of the thousands of soi dogs in Bangkok is very sad. I am the owner of a small dog that was given to me by my wife as a present when it was 2 months old. It was one of several abandoned pups from a soi dog. This dog is very loyal,loving and very healthy although of course we feed him good food.

Check out this link:

http://www.khaosanroad.com/chantana/soi_dog.htm

When one considers what other roaming soi dogs have in their diet,it is no surprise that they are mangy and in poor condition. The Thais, being Buddhist, don't want to kill them but still find ways to try and feed them.Many of these dogs reside at the Wats where the monks care for them. Who knows who they were in past lives?

I think some of the injured and really unhealthy ones should be rounded up and sent to the crocodile farms instead of using healthy dogs as seems to be the case at Sampran crocodile park. I will be quite willing to register and have my dog fitted with a chip if it will help.

If all the soi dogs in Bangkok were eradicated ,we would have an even bigger rat problem than we do now. And I guess i should know.