Guidance For Dog And Cat Population Management

Here are guidance for dog and cat population management in the most humane, effective and resource way possible. Although there is no ‘quick fix’ solution to the problems caused by roaming cats and dogs but at least this guidance would help with all the factors that SHOULD be considered and explains how a comprehensive and sustainable intervention can be designed.

Now stay alert and consecrate on the points.

BENEFITS OF HAVING PETS AT HOME

• Various scientific studies have confirmed that having pets can be benefit to their owners – in terms of both psychological health.

• They can reduce stress, which is known to improve the effective functioning of the immune system.

• The benefits of companion such as dog and cat to people’s psychological health has been a reason behind the introduction of dogs to visit patients in hospices, hospitals, prisons and handicapped homes.


BREAKDOWN OF THE BOND

• Domestication of the dog, usefulness of the dog to man and the protection that man has given to the dog in return, has led to the development of this strong bond.

• Today, man often violates this bond by allowing dogs to breed excessively and them abandoning them in great numbers, causing immense suffering to the animals themselves and, sometimes, a health risk to human society.

• Governments and local authorities confronted with the problems caused by these dogs have often turned to mass destruction in the hope of finding a quick solution, only to discover that the destruction had to continue, year after year, with no end in sight.

• Moreover, by reducing temporarily the population of straying dogs, the authorities had improved the chances of survival of the remainder and encouraged migration of stray dogs into “cleared areas”, thus exacerbating the spread of any existing diseases including rabies, if present.

• A practical consideration is that the dogs most likely to be caught in these “catch and kill” campaigns are those straying not far from home.

• The owners of these dogs may resent the activity of the dog catchers and if the dogs are actually killed, there will naturally be an outcry against the authorities.

• A human program to control dog populations should gain the support of the local community and Animal Welfare Groups.

• Removal and killing of dogs should never be considered as the most effective way of dealing with a problem of surplus dogs in the community; it has no effect on the root cause of the problem, which is the over-production of dogs.

• It is now being recognized that removal of surplus dogs alone cannot solve the stray problem.

• It is essential that long-term, proactive measures are taken, including registrations, micro-chipping, neutering and public education to create awareness.

WHAT IS STRAY?

• Any dog unaccompanied by its owner or keeper in a public place or not wearing a collar and identity tag, is legally-speaking a stray.

• Some dogs are normally left to wander near home without wearing a collar and at night are encouraged to forage for food, knocking down thrush bins and littering the neighbourhood.

• Dogs found wandering in a public place may be waiting for this owner or to be lost or have deliberately left home or have been abandoned by his owner.

• Puppies born to a straying bitch if they are not re-homed they could grow up truly ownerless and become feral. Such dogs will be difficult to catch and may play a role in transmission of disease but they have poor survival rate and are rarely a major problem.

• In breeding has its problem, namely demodectic mange which is often seen in street dogs. They will normally die a slow agonizing death.


STRAY DOG CONTROL

• A control program must be designed so that it differentiates between owned and un-owned dogs and deals with each category appropriately.

• It should be linked to an education program with aims to reduce the problem at source, that is, at the dog-owner’s home.

• Education by rescue reason (compliance) or education by execution (non compliance)


THE COST FACTOR

• The reason many governments avoid the introduction of a humane, proactive stray control program is the cost factor.

• However, this is seen to be false economy when he hidden costs of ineffective programs are examined.

• Traffic accidents, dog bites and dog related casualties and other health implication, catching and killing cost which are contracted out to private dog catchers.

• News about dog-related accident and death in your daily newspaper.

• The costs of a proactive program can be offset by well-enforced system of registration, micro-chipping with reduced rates for neutered dogs to encourage neutering and assistance to certain groups with less disposable income and caregivers of stray animals.


EFFECTIVE CONTROL

• Effective control needs a comprehensive proactive program which includes educating dog owners and proactive owners, controlling the reproduction of owned dogs, controlling the environment of supervised dogs, compulsory registration, identification and micro-chipping and licensing and control of breeders and sales outlets.

• Effective enforcement is vital.


EDUCATION

• NANAS Humane Education groups will undertake an education and awareness campaign on the responsibilities of pet ownership.

• Important elements are the commitment and care which should be given to them.

• To promote responsible pet ownership amongst existing owners.

• To prevent impulse purchase of pets in the future. (Education pamphlets will be distributed to pet shop).

• The legal responsibilities of owners will also be stressed in the education materials.

• Publication of a range of leaflets and brochures made widely available.

• Educational display inserted in dog magazines, pet shops and veterinary centres and during application of license.

• Campaign will be highlighted in the media and local Radio stations.

• Education program, whenever problems are noted, assisted by Our Animal Wardens/ Inspectors.

UNDERSTANDING THE DOG (Public Education)

• When the dog approaches you stand still.

• Let the dog do his/her job example, finding out your identity.

• A dog on the street or in the house is the keeper of their respective places.

• Never stare at the dog especially the eyes because they view it as a challenge therefore keep your head to your side. At the same time, be calm and composed.

• If in case there is disagreement and the dog does not seem to like you or your presence resulting in snaring, growling or barking, slowly back away either side keeping view on the dog.

• The cardinal point never to pet or approach a dog that is stranger to you.

• Do not chase or tease the dogs or pull their food to take away any of their items available with them.

• Do not try to interfere into a fight between the animals unless you are trained.

• Do NOT try to kick a dog!

• Be aware of mother with puppies.

ALWAYS be kind and gentle to the animals they will reciprocate in the same way as you feel. Remember animals will always prove to be the right judgement under any circumstance as they have natural instinct and justification. This is largely explains why animals so often immediately like or dislike a person.

Animal lovers have an orange glow in their aura which is seen and recognised by animals. Fear, on the other hand, gives a turgid brown look to the aura and this stimulates a reciprocal fear in the animal, together with anger and desire to attack.

Dogs, we often say, can “smell fear”.


DOG REGISTRATION AND IDENTIFICATION

• Are essential requirements for the successful implementation of a dog control program?

• Health controls such as the compulsory vaccination for rabies of dogs living along the boarders.

• Registration is a system for recording individual dogs with full details of their owners and drawing up registers.

• The most effective system will depend on national circumstances.

• It may be a central national register on computer with access to the central register available from points across the country, or in the case of a country like Malaysia, a regional system with a recognizable prefix to indicate the appropriate region. Each dog should carry a permanent identity mark or number (micro-chip) which is recorded on the central register.

• If it is made by microchip, then a visible indication should be given that a microchip has been inserted.

• For example, a tattoo indication such as an “M” on the side left ear.

• In addition, it should be compulsory for dogs to wear a collar and disc at all times outside the home.

• There must have the microchip number and owner’s telephone number. The disc can also be colour coded (with colour change each year) to provide a visual check on the updating of current year licensing. Duration of license need to be discussed.


DOGS LEFT IN TEMPORARILY HOME/KENNEL

• Where the dog is temporarily taken to another home location – such as during holidays. It is important that :

•  Full details of the temporary address are affixed to the collar, enabling the dog to be returned if it escapes.

•  Reports of lost dog are common during festive season due to certain activities like fire crackers.


DOG REGISTRATION AND ID

• The introduction of compulsory registration and identification must be accompanied by stringent penalties for abandonment of a companion animal.


REGISTRATION FEE INCREMENT

• A registration should be charged, with a lower fee for neutered animals to encourage neutering.

• The introduction of fee increment should well be publicized in advance so as not to trigger of abandonment when the fee for existing dog owners for a period of one or two years.

• This could help to prevent panic abandonment by existing owners.


NEUTERING

• Neutering (both spaying and castration) SHOULD be promoted by all possible means including education.

• Incentive (lower registration fee for neutered animals) and subsidized neutering programs.

• SPCA Selangor and DBKS Spay & Neuter clinic and NANAS Spay Shuttle.

• The apparent different financial priorities of Animal Welfare Groups and local veterinarians have sometimes made the introduction of such programs difficult.

• The benefits of being involved in such schemes should be discussed with the local veterinarians and authorities, while Welfare groups should appreciate the financial pressures of running a private veterinary.

• The contribution which low-cost neutering schemes can make to stray control program is DRAMATIC!!!!

• If it is done consistently with the breeding cycle of six month period to see an impact.

• Veterinarians have different views as to the optimum age that neutering operations should be performed and the best techniques applied.

• It is agreed that in situations where the over riding consideration is population control in an early age neutering has obvious benefits.

• Puppies and kittens can be done as early as 12 weeks old by an experience veterinarian.


CONTROLLING THE ENVIRONMENT OF UNSUPERVISED DOGS

• The holding capacity depends on availability of food and sheltering places.

• One way to reduce the “holding capacity” of any particular are is to restrict food sources by cleaning up the area.

• Particular attention should be pain to market place, roadside hawkers, restaurants, rubbish dumps, industrial sites and uninhabited places and area year-marked for development.


LICENSING AND CONTROL OF BREEDERS

• Indiscriminate breeding is a foremost factor in the over population of companion animals.

• It is vital to provide for the licensing and control of all commercial breeding establishments... higher registration fee for intact dogs.

• Stringent welfare requirements should be attached to the granting of a license (covering areas such as housing, care, attention, veterinary supervision, exercise, frequency of breeding each bitch and etc)

• All puppies sold at pet shop SHOULD be micro-chipped with a temporary license.


LICENSING AND CONTROL OF SALES OUTLETS

• There should also be a system to licensing and control of all sales outlets, including dealers and pet shops.

• Licensed sales outlets should only be permitted to buy puppies or dogs from licensed breeders thus enabling the enforcement officers to trace and control animals throughout the breeding and distribution network.


ENFORCEMENT

• Enforcement should be effective but humane.

• Personnel should be selected for their experience and ability to work and handle animals.

• They will, after all, be fulfilling an important educational and public relations role.

• It is important that their role is not devalued by the employment of unsuitable people.

• The local authority will need to ensure that satisfactory kennelling is provided for retaining animals, during the initial quarantine period, while they await for their owners to claim them or other humane decision.

• The choice of vehicle for the animal warden is also important.

• These must be well ventilated and compartmented.

• The capture techniques used should be humane, requiring patience and an understanding of animal behaviour.

• Animal wardens should receive full animal handling training and be adept at dealing with all types of dogs including aggressive ones.

• Animals should be comfortably housed, fed and given water throughout their period of detention.

• After expiry of this detention period, adoptable animals should be passed to Animal Welfare Groups for re-homing.

• Euthanasia should only be considered as a last resort when re-homing has not been possible.

• Euthanasia should remain, however, an important consideration in any program. The number of dogs kept in a kennel/ holding facility should not be allowed to increase above a maximum level, since this might in turn result in additional welfare problems.

• Where an isolated community has a small stray or feral dog population, which is not considered to be nuisance and the re-homing potential is limited, it may be practical of origin. They will have their left ear tipped for identification purposes.

• In this case, only ill, diseased or aggressive dogs need to euthanized.

 NEVER EVER DESTROY A HEALTHY DOG OR CAT!!!!!

For more info and enquiries please call 019-7159199 Mr Raymund Wee (President & Founder of NANAS)