Monday, March 16, 2009

Less cats sent in, more dogs

Thanks eslina for sending this in! The good news - the number of cats surrendered to the SPCA seems to have dropped. 600 less cats are coming through their doors, according to the article. It is fantastic to think TNRM is having an effect.

The bad news - that more dogs are being surrendered. I think most people involved in animal welfare were to the contrary, worried about dogs being dumped once the new rules on licensing came into effect. Once the penalties are greater, the irresponsible owners are more likely to get rid of the dogs, not to license them.

8 comments:

ethantan said...

But Dawn wouldn't the licensing and higher penalties weed out the irresponsible owners from the responsible ones. I mean if the owners refuse to license and microchip their dogs, then they shouldn't have the dog in the first place.

I also thought once the new laws take effect, it will discourage people from impulse buying of dogs without considering the responsibility of licensing and micro-chipping the dogs hence discourage dumping??

Dawn said...

Unfortunately I think that the rate of compliance for licensing is pretty low. I agree with you that responsible owner OUGHT to license and microchip the dogs, but the problem is how well it is enforced. I doubt that enforcement is a very high priority - and how are you going to ensure that people really license?

The problem also is with the people who already have dogs - they may not want to license and may be frightened of the penalties. Hence they abandon the dogs now. Hopefully as a result, this number will fall as those who wanted to abandon their dogs for this reason will probably already have done so.

Anonymous said...

The joke in the neighbourhood was that once the new licensing went into effect, less dogs were seen walked by their owners/maids.
I think many dogs are not licensed bec they are not sterilised. A license for a sterilised dog is only $14 per yr & you can pay on-line.

animalfamily said...

it's wonderful that SPCA linked the drop in number of cats to sterilisation. it shows that it works!

when we push for cats to be allowed in flats, we need to pre-empt the same dumping issues as well. but the benefits would surely outweigh the cons.

Anonymous said...

TNRM in Singapore has really taken a life of its own - you can see tipped-ear cats everywhere now. The wonderful thing about TNRM is that it is purely a grassroots movement, and it's impossible to say who's actually directing it. Credit should be given to Dawn for her work at CWS for providing a structure for this to happen.

Dawn said...

Anonymous, that's a good point.

animalfamily - yes, that is true, but I think the difference is that (1) hopefully it will be just an initial increase as with the dogs and (2) the question is whether it is relatively easy and cheap in terms of compliance. I think that cats shouldn't be 'licensed' in terms of being allowed to own a cat, but more in terms of keeping a register to just ensure that the owners are responsible.

yskat - thanks for the kind words but I think people were already doing TNRM when I started :) I was just discussing this with a caregiver the other day, about whether I thought TNRM was making a difference. I also said the same thing - I see far more tipped earred cats these days.

Singapore Community Cats said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Singapore Community Cats said...

I think much credit has to be given to cws and Dawn for converting a lot of caregivers to adopting the attitude of die-die must sterilise every cat in the estate!

I hope the gahmen will soon acknowledge this rare display of active citizenship to provide subsidized or free sterilisation withOUT having to comply with so many rules if done through the town council - hence i bet no caregiver has taken up that offer and no one up there wonder why? or no one up there really cares!