Spaying is the way to go

I hope the pair of pandas loaned to us by the Chinese government is coping well in their RM25 million enclosure.

I’d think that my dogs would give anything to get into that fully air-conditioned panda home, seeing as to how they take any chance to try to sneak into my house for some cool air relief.

Still, I think they are pretty comfortable where they are living right now. In fact, they are lucky to have a place to call home, compared to the thousands of strays struggling to survive out in the streets.

Strays, especially canines, have it tough in this country. Not only are they vulnerable to abuse and torture at the hands of us humans, these creatures are victims of prejudice, to a certain extent, and at times dragged into the political polemics of this country.

But I trust that the majority of Malaysians are actually good and well-minded people who have nothing but kindness and compassion to all of God's creatures. I also believe that they, too, are terribly sickened at hearing cases of animal cruelty. Like the old and partially blind dog named Brianna who was shot with two arrows by an individual in Balakong, Selangor; or the incident in Johor, whereby enforcement officers were caught on video bludgeoning stray dogs to death at the back of a warehouse in Skudai.

I can’t fathom how one be so cruel towards a defenseless creature, or what can we do to prevent people from being cruel.

So, instead on dwelling on that, I want to talk about how we might be able to help put an end to their unnecessary suffering -- that is, by managing the strays in this country.

There are three known approaches to solving the stray problem - sheltering, killing and spaying/neutering.

Sheltering – Animal rescue and advocacy groups such as SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and Performing Animals Welfare Society (PAWS) provide shelters to strays, but these non-profit organisations are often faced with constraints in resources and funding, especially catering to a large number of strays in this country. As a result, a majority of animals sent to shelters are euthanized even before they are adopted.

Killing - The other method is capturing the strays on the streets and killing them. It seems to be the easiest way to control the stray population, but so far, have we managed to ensure that this process is carried out in a humane manner? How many times have we watched helplessly as municipal council officers inhumanely round up dogs, before putting them down in the pound? Or in the case in Skudai, taking matters into their own hands in the cruelest manner.

What is important to note is that both sheltering and killing methods are means to control the consequences and not really solving the problem. What more, they are not a sustainable solution as strays reproduce and multiply on the streets faster than you can put them down.

Which leaves us to the last method – spaying and neutering.

The most important step you can take to be a responsible pet owner is to neuter or spay your pets, more so if you don’t intend or are not able to take care of their offspring.

I have had a number of pet lovers telling me that neutering/spaying is a cruel thing to do to an animal. But I’d say what is more cruel is when they or their litter are left on the streets, scavenging in hunger, diseased, before ending up as road kill or in the pound.

SPCA and PAWS makes it mandatory to spay or neuter pets prior to adoption. Independent pet rescuers too are undertaking this effort to neuter and spay, by using money from their own pockets or through public sponsorship.

Education on caring and being responsible pet owners should start at home. However, a larger and legislated approach is needed to solve the problem of strays in a sustainable manner.

I think the way forward is to enact a mandatory spaying/neutering legislation.

And to conduct large scale operation of neutering and spaying whereby the strays are trapped, neutered/spayed and returned to the streets as a method of controlling the population.

As it is now, animal welfare issues have yet to become a priority at the legislative level.

And there’s a question of funding. But if we can spend RM25 million on the pandas (plus RM3.24 million lending fee per year, paid to China for the next 10 years), I think we should not have any problems coming up with that kind of money to manage the animals in our own backyard, and to prevent anymore unnecessary suffering for strays.