(TH) Man's best friend?

[Guest guest]

Bangkok Post

October 01, 2007

 

MAN'S BEST FRIEND?

Microchips are just the latest of the city's many

efforts to control the problem of stray dogs

 

Story by PENCHAN CHAROENSUTHIPAN

 

A dog is man's best friend, as the saying goes. But if

so, why are so many of these adorable best friends

abandoned by their owners and left to roam the streets

in hungry misery?

 

At worst, they end up as a culinary delight at

restaurants in neighbouring countries.

 

Bangkok is a city crowded with stray dogs; 120,000 or

more wander the temples, schools, markets and streets.

Every city in Thailand has its strays, with the total

number estimated at one million nationwide.

 

City Hall has tried a variety of means to curb their

numbers, including rounding them up and putting them

in dog shelters, spaying them and, most recently, the

controversial mandatory microchipping of pet dogs.

 

Implanting a microchip between a pet dog's shoulders

means the owner can be identified if the animal is

dumped and left abandoned in the streets, and

appropriate punishment can be meted out. At least,

that is the theory.

 

The revival of the microchip implantation scheme

brings back memories of the city's previous efforts to

make Bangkok a city free of strays.

 

One of the most controversial was the massive round-up

of stray dogs ahead of the 2003 Apec forum.

 

In a bid to impress the VIPs attending the

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit that

October, thousands of wandering street dogs were

removed from the cityscape almost overnight.

 

The dog clearance operation was highly controversial

at the time and pet lovers have heard little since

about what became of the " Apec dogs " .

 

Today, these pooches are still being kept in dog

shelters inside the Livestock Development Department's

animal quarantine stations in Phetchaburi and Sa Kaeo

provinces.

 

But they are not alone. The department has also been

asked to care for dogs rescued from dog traffickers.

 

The Thai Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to

Animals (TSPCA) recently made a visit to the

department's dog shelter in Phetchaburi, and found out

that the cost of caring for these animals and

providing them with food and medicine is placing a

severe strain on its budget.

 

There are about 100 dogs at this particular shelter at

the moment, and there is a dire need for philanthropic

support in paying the bills.

 

Lack of funds and the increasing number of dogs being

delivered to the shelter have put a heavy burden on

livestock employees, who have to find the time to care

for these adopted animals in between their normal

duties at the quarantine station.

 

Most of the newcomers are not city strays, but animals

rescued from dog traffickers en route to restaurant

tables in neighbouring countries.

 

These ill-fated canines, and not all of them are

strays, are worth 300 and 500 baht each in Thailand,

but the price skyrockets in the destination countries.

 

 

A plump canine can fetch as much as 2,500 baht in

Vietnam, where cooked dog meat is a specialty on the

menu. An all-black dog has even higher value and can

fetch as much as 4,500 baht, according to Nirundorn

Aungtragoolsuk, director of the livestock disease

control and veterinary services bureau.

 

Vietnam, where dog meat is believed to have

aphrodisiacal properties, is the largest market, along

with Laos and China, said Mr Nirundorn.

 

" We estimate that 7,000 to 8,000 dogs are exported to

neighbouring countries each month, or nearly 100,000 a

year, " he said. " Not surprisingly, the gangs that deal

in these dogs make a lot of money. "

 

There is no specific law to control dog meat

consumption and the export of dogs, he said.

 

TSPCA secretary-general Sawan Saengbanlung said even

if no law actually bans eating dog meat, Article 381

of the Criminal Code specifies that any person who

inflicts cruelty on an animal is liable to a

1,000-baht fine or a month in jail.

 

In reality, however, the law had no effect at all

because the law enforcers did not take the issue

seriously, he said.

 

Mr Sawan said the Livestock Development Department and

32 other animal advocacy groups have been drafting a

bill on animal welfare protection.

 

Apart from a prohibition on animal mistreatment, the

bill would also guarantee protection for the welfare

of domesticated animals.

 

Mr Sawan says he expects the bill will also provide

answers for exasperating problems such as the

management of the ever-increasing number of stray

animals.

 

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/01Oct2007_news20.php

 

 

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