Phuket Opinion: Stray Dog 'final Solution' Should Take A Pounding

[Lite Beer]

Phuket Opinion: Stray dog 'final solution' should take a pounding
Phuket Gazette -

John Dalley, Phuket’s well-known founder of the Soi Dog Foundation.

John Dalley is Phuket’s well-known founder of the Soi Dog Foundation, a not-for-profit, legally registered charitable organization in Thailand, the United States, Australia, the UK, France and Holland. Here, Mr Dalley replies to Phuket Livestock Chief Weerasit Putthipairoj’s public policy that strays should be rounded up from Phuket’s streets and impounded.

PHUKET: In response to the comments made by Weerasit Puthipairoj, the chief of the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (story here), the Soi Dog Foundation never has and never will pay anybody to feed stray dogs.

Certainly many local Thai people and some foreigners do to our knowledge feed stray dogs and cats at temples and other locations, but that has nothing to do with the foundation. SDF, however, does supply food to temples which care for large numbers of dogs.

Soi Dog Foundation sterilizes large numbers of animals on the island (nearly 50,000 in the past nine years), which has resulted in a clear reduction in overall numbers in most areas of the island.

As Dr Weerasit is new to Phuket, he would be unaware of the huge numbers of strays on Phuket nine years ago and the fact that the problem was spiraling out of control. In June 2012 SDF started its PUP program (Prevent Unwanted Puppies).

This program, which will run initially for two years, sees us holding mobile clinics systematically across the island, working in close cooperation with the island’s local administrations, all of whom share our view that mass sterilization of both owned and stray animals is the only long-term solution in a country where euthanasia is officially not allowed.

We cannot make people have their pets desexed, but our target is to sterilize 20,000 dogs over the initial two years. In addition, all dogs that come to the clinics are vaccinated.

We believe that this will see the issue largely under control and require a maintenance program only.

If 80% of animals in an area are sterilized, then the population will decrease. That is a fact.

Removing sterilized dogs and dumping them in the dog pound is actually counter productive. Dogs are territorial by nature and keep other dogs out of their areas. Removing sterilized dogs simply opens up the area to new dogs that may not be sterilized and the problem starts all over again.

This view is shared by Dr Weerasit’s superiors in Bangkok, where years of incarcerating stray dogs in huge dog pounds has had absolutely no effect on the stray population. The Livestock Department themselves are now moving toward mass sterilization in the capital as they can see it is the only solution.

The main issue is not people feeding dogs, but the garbage problem. Until all garbage is disposed of in dog-proof bins, this will always be an issue. Where there is a food source something will feed on it. If there were no dogs or cats on Phuket tomorrow, then an explosion in the rat population would most certainly occur.

Rabies

Dr Weerasit’s claim that Phuket is rabies-free is extremely dangerous. Anybody bitten by a dog here in Phuket should have a course of rabies injections.

There have been no recorded cases of rabies in humans on Phuket for several years, in no little measure due to the fact that SDF has vaccinated most of the dogs. The Phuket Livestock Department, meanwhile, has allowed unvaccinated dogs and puppies from other provinces, where rabies is endemic, to pour onto the island for sale at markets and temple fairs. That puts us at risk.

It is illegal in Thailand to transport dogs across provinces without proper paperwork and evidence that the dogs have been vaccinated against rabies. Most puppies sold in Phuket come from puppy farms elsewhere and unsold puppies are inevitably dumped, fueling the stray dog problem and increasing the risk of rabies being introduced.

The World Health Oganization will never accept Phuket as being rabies-free whilst dogs from other areas are allowed onto the island.

Dr Weerasit did not mention what he will do to stop these dogs from coming onto the island.

Dogs impounded? Not well founded.

The statement that all stray dogs should be taken to the dog pound in Thalang is not well founded. By his own admission, the Livestock Office in Phuket does not have the budget to take care of the dogs and the dog shelter has a capacity of 400 animals.

To put all Phuket’s stray and unregistered dogs into the pound would require that they be stacked several deep. SDF has offered to vaccinate and sterilize all the dogs in the pound as well as treat injuries. We have been denied access and reports from tourists and local Thai people who have visited there describe it as nothing more than a death camp.

Furthermore, puppies are being born on site. Interestingly the Deputy Director general of the DLD has offered SDF land if it will manage the dogs being confiscated from dog meat smugglers. SDF invested nearly 4 million baht on improving the Phuket pound but were then asked to leave as it was not appropriate for an NGO to operate a Government facility!

At the pound, dogs are fed when food is available and many have untreated wounds infested with maggots caused by fighting over food. The previous enlightened chief did make a decision to close the pound to new arrivals because of the conditions there and lack of funds.

The pound should be closed to new arrivals, the existing dogs be wherever possible adopted, and the remainder cared for by SDF. The pound should then be closed and demolished, as for such a place to exist is a blot on Phuket and it serves no useful purpose.

Man bites dog

The majority of dog bites come from uncontrolled, owned dogs. Stray dogs generally avoid human contact, but any genuine cases of aggressive stray dogs SDF will investigate and humanely euthanize the animal if it is found to be attacking people.

In the case of owned dogs attacking people, the victims must take it up with the authorities.

Many people do keep dogs and train them to be aggressive to protect their property. Dr Weerasit is correct in saying that many owners will not register their dogs and deny ownershito avoid legal claims in the event their dogs attacks somebody.

Plans to have all owned dogs microchipped and registered have been put forward on several occasions, but it has never worked.

Positive reinforcement

Sterilizing dogs does not generally change a dog’s behavior. One reason local people do not want to sterilize a male dog is the belief that it will no longer protect their property. This is not the case.

After sterilization a male dog is less likely to roam in search of unsterilized females, but will protect his territory exactly as he did before.

An issue on Phuket is the increasing number of pit bulls bought for dog fighting and later dumped when of no further use to the owner.

Although pit bulls generally are not aggressive if trained correctly, these dogs are dangerous when trained for fighting.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2013/Phuket-Opinion-Stray-dog-final-solution-should-take-a-pounding-20596.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2013-03-24

[BookMan]

Soi Dog Foundation does great work IMO.

10/10 from me

[fiddlehead]

I'd like to see a schedule for this mobile clinic for sterilization.
I have a friend who's dogs and cats are often breeding against her wishes.

I doubt she'd go to Thalang but, if they come here, to Rawai, possibly...................

[JetsetBkk]

I'd like to see a schedule for this mobile clinic for sterilization.

I have a friend who's dogs and cats are often breeding against her wishes.

I doubt she'd go to Thalang but, if they come here, to Rawai, possibly...................

My thoughts exactly. You don't hear much from SDF or PAWS. Why don't they do a bit more on publicising their work?

[overherebc]

Until reading the OP I was getting very annoyed by a dog that is always outside my home, a nice natured thai stray, this week I will take her to the vet who looks after my dogs and get her the snip. I feed her when I can but will get her done and then maybe try to to introduce her to my dogs, sfter injections and health checks of course.

The OP made me think a bit.

[NamKangMan]

Great work being done by these people. They have a solution to a problem, that still works in with Thai laws. The benefits of this work will be seen in the next few years. The stray dog population will decrease, for sure.

That means less animals living with pain and suffering.

Good luck to all involved.

[Jimi007]

It would be nice to read the original article that this thread is responding to. So I looked it up:

PHUKET: For the past 10 months, Weerasit Puthipairoj, 58, has been the chief of the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office. Originally from Narathiwat, Mr Weerasit has a master’s degree in Agricultural Development from the Prince of Songkla University Haad Yai campus in Songkhla.

Here, he talks about stray dogs in Phuket, the best way to deal with them and what to do if you are attacked by a vicious dog:

There are many stray dogs on Phuket because Thai tradition is to be kind to them and feed them. When you feed them, they stay nearby. The more dogs you feed, the more will come. This creates problems.

One problem with stray dogs is the possibility of disease. Phuket has been rabies-free since 2007. We want to keep it that way.

If you want to help stray dogs, the best thing to do is not feed them. Instead, call us or your local administration organization. We catch stray dogs and bring them to the dog shelter in Thalang, where we take care of them.

We neuter the dogs at the shelter, but we don’t kill them, as this is against our Buddhist beliefs. Right now there are about 400 dogs at the Thalang shelter. They are available for adoption.

We welcome contributions of food for the dogs, but not cash. You can bring us food or just drop off the dog food receipt and we can pick up the food ourselves.

Feeding stray dogs but leaving them on the street is not the best way to help them. One dog foundation in Phuket hires people to feed stray dogs on the street and at local temples. They even sterilize stray dogs – it’s true this can stop some of them from breeding, but the dogs are still living on the street.

We appreciate their efforts, but the best thing is to let us bring the dogs to our shelter.

Another problem with dogs on the street is that they sometimes attack people, but none of the people feeding them is willing to be responsible for them.

There was a legal case once that reached the Supreme Court – someone was attacked by a stray dog that was being fed by someone else. The victim sued the feeder. The judge finally decided that if you feed a dog enough that it doesn’t go away, you are the owner of that dog.

In another case, we once went to pick up a stray dog, and a man claimed to be the owner. I told him that I would take a photo of him and collect his ID information for our records, so that if the dog attacked someone, he would be responsible. Then he denied ownership.

If you have the misfortune to be bitten by a dog, the first thing to do is take care of your wound. Run a lot of water on the wound. Disease comes from the dog’s saliva, so the more you can wash off, the better. Then see a doctor.

If possible, take a photo of the dog that attacked you, then either let the owner know or file a complaint with the police.

If you are attacked by a dog on someone’s property, you can’t really blame the owners, since you were on their property. Compensation will be up to the owners – I’m not sure what legal rights you have.

You do have the right to protect yourself if you’re attacked by a dog, within reason. Again, if you are on someone else’s property, it might be a different story.

For our sakes and for the good of the dogs, let’s all work together to solve the stray dog problem in Phuket.

For more information call Phuket Provincial Livestock Office 076-285584 or 076-216934, Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

This article first appeared in the March 9-15 print version of the Phuket Gazette.

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[belg]

stray dogs... thais are far from buddist if you see their greedy behaviours chasing the baht in all kind of ways... the best problem for any stray dog, is to put it down

but they are not too smart here to see the easy solution of a big problem

pretending you cannot harm animals? kind of hypocrit when you kill chicken, cow, pork, kwai, sheep, etc...

[khaowong1]

I'd like to see a schedule for this mobile clinic for sterilization.

I have a friend who's dogs and cats are often breeding against her wishes.

I doubt she'd go to Thalang but, if they come here, to Rawai, possibly...................

The sterilization technique for most Thai's, is to wrap a rubber band around some dog's balls.. pretty crude, and painful I would imagine.

[overherebc]

Found out yesterday that the dog actually belongs to someone in the village but is not really looked after,not properly fed, bathed or injected. I now don't know if I should interfere or not. My mind tells me to ask outside the area if anyone is wanting a soft natured and loving dog for free and then kidnap the poor thing and pass it on.

[LivinginKata]

Soi Dog Foundation does great work IMO.

10/10 from me

They certainly do. And PAWS also does great work. many stray cats & dogs in my street have been sterilized by these 2 groups.

[MacChine]

They [soi dog ] even sterilize stray dogs – it’s true this can stop some of them
from breeding, but the dogs are still living on the street...
We appreciate their efforts, but the best thing is to let us bring the dogs to our shelter.

So seems the two entities disagree totally on how to deal with the problem.

I vote massive sterilization solves all , but takes about 10 years of a dedicated, cooperative and thorough program.

Pet owners breeding pets accidentally are among the most irresponsible and infuriating people.