Dog trapping by town council riles animal lovers

Neo Chai Chin and Louisa Tang Today Online 5 Apr 13;

SINGAPORE — An exercise to trap stray dogs in Bukit Batok was halted on Wednesday night after intervention by animal welfare activists, but the fate of the dogs going forward — except for seven puppies rescued that will be put up for adoption — remains unclear.

The incident has riled animal welfare activists, who questioned why Jurong Town Council (JTC) did not engage them before hiring pest controllers.

Responding to media queries yesterday, a JTC spokesman said it had engaged a pest control company to trap the stray dogs in the forested area beside Bukit Batok MRT Station and “move them to appropriate shelters”, following “several complaints” from residents. He said: “Residents have given feedback that these dogs are becoming more aggressive, and there were some incidents of the strays chasing after residents.” The strays have been around for years but became a “more prevalent” problem recently, and residents “urged for quick action” before anyone was harmed, he added.

The pest control staff arrived at the site on Wednesday night and were spotted by a caregiver for cats in the community, who only wanted to be known as Ms Siau. Fearing the dogs would be culled, she contacted dog welfare activists and the town council in hopes of linking them up. The JTC spokesman told TODAY it then ceased the exercise, with no dog trapped.

But volunteers from HOPE Dog Rescue and Voices for Animals who arrived past 9pm said they spotted the pest control staff on-site for about another hour. Dogs were running around and barking, sounding stressed, wrote HOPE founder Fiona Foo on the group’s blog.

The volunteers made three trips into the forested area with flashlights and spotted five or six dogs, as well as seven puppies, said Mr Derrick Tan, founder of Voices for Animals. The dogs ran away but the puppies were rescued.

An adoption drive for them will be held this Sunday at Mutts and Mittens on Pasir Ris Farmway 2, said Ms Foo.

Questioning the town council’s actions, Ms Foo wrote on HOPE’s blog: “Instead of working with animal welfare groups to trap and rehome, they took the easy way out, engaged a pest control company to get rid of what they deemed as pests.”

But JTC told TODAY it is “not into culling of these stray animals and will continue to work closely with dog lovers and interest groups” as well as the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) for a solution on the remaining dogs. It did not provide details.

An AVA spokesperson said it engages external contractors to round up stray dogs, who must follow guidelines on the capture, handling and transport of the animals and equipment allowed to be used. These guidelines have been extended to town councils Trapped animals are surrendered to the AVA, which supports rehoming efforts. Impounded dogs are humanely euthanised as a last resort, she added.

Mr Tan said Voices for Animals is keen to assist the AVA in trapping, sterilisation, vaccination and release of the dogs, which would help control the population and reduce the dogs’ aggression.