Today

November 20, 2004

 

Responsible pet ownership is the key: Swee Say

 

AS MORE Singaporeans become pet owners, Singapore's streets are also seeing a growing number of stray animals.

 

Stray cats form the largest group, multiplying at a rate of 20 per cent a year, but there are also more abandoned rabbits, hamsters and guinea pigs.

 

According to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), there are approximately 60,000 stray cats and 20,000 stray dogs in Singapore.

 

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and AVA culled 7,229 unwanted dogs and 13,698 unwanted cats last year.

 

But culling is not the best long-term solution to contain the stray population, Mr Lim Swee Say, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for National Development, said yesterday.

 

Speaking at the launch of the AVA's responsible pet ownership public education programme at Great World City yesterday, Mr Lim said: "Stepping up public education and increasing public awareness of responsible pet ownership is the way forward, if we ever hope to effectively contain the growing number of strays on our streets without overly relying on culling."

 

He added that authorities would "take seriously" feedback on tightening rules on breeding animals — which Today readers had called for — as well as sale and ownership of pets.

 

The AVA is also trying to encourage people to adopt rather than buy their pets.

 

From early last year, those caught abandoning their pets could be fined up to $10,000, jailed for a year or both. But till now, no one has been caught under the new legislation.

 

— Eveline Gan