The Phuket-based animal rescue charity questions the details of the proposed amendment to the Animal Cruelty Prevention Act, especially the fee structure.
“While registration has some value, it must be applied carefully,” said Louise Rose, CEO of Soi Dog Foundation.
“In particular, we believe very careful thought must be given to pricing, so that generous souls who run refuges for strays are not penalised, and so that owners do not decide to dump their animals rather than pay the fee, thereby increasing, rather than decreasing, the numbers of strays.”
But Ms Rose also stresses SDF’s belief that registration will do nothing to solve the real problem of stray dogs in Thailand.
“By pushing for registration without first controlling the stray population, the Livestock Department is putting the cart before the horse.
“While registering owned animals may make some owners more responsible, it will do nothing to reduce the number of unregistered strays. Indeed, it will do nothing to stop the number growing.
“Officials statistics quoted in the press state that there were some 860,000 stray dogs and cats in Thailand in 2017.
“It is our belief that there are 10 times that many animals that have no owner – around 8.5 million – so we are not sure where the department is getting its statistics. Those 8.5 million animals will never be registered.
“The only approach that will bring the stray population under control is a concerted long-term campaign of Catch, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return – or CNVR – such as SDF has been carrying out over the past 16 years.”
CNVR involves catching strays, sterilising them, vaccinating them against major diseases and then returning them to their original territory.
Bangkok Director of Animal Welfare for Soi Dog Foundation Dr Tuntikorn Rungpatana said, “So far, we have treated more than 350,000 animals, mostly dogs, across the country – almost 150,000 of them in Bangkok. Those animals can no longer breed and are vaccinated against the major dog and cat diseases, especially rabies, so that they pose a much reduced threat to public health”.
Dr Rungpatana says that Soi Dog Foundation has proven that CNVR works.
“In Phuket in 2005, there were an estimated 80,000 stray dogs. Now, thanks to our CNVR campaign, there are less than a tenth of that number, and almost all are happy and healthy. We impounded no dogs. We killed none. And none were registered, because none of them had owners. The dramatic reduction in numbers has come about through natural attrition among animals that can have no offspring.
“Government livestock offices in a handful of provinces have realised the value of CNVR and are supporting it, but what is needed now is a nationwide campaign led by the government.
“Culling, impounding or registration cannot stop the growth of the stray dog and cat populations of Thailand, nor the threat they pose to public health. Only CNVR can do that.
“We urge the Livestock Department and the Ministry of Agriculture to suspend their plans for registration and, instead, to reassign any budget to a decades-long nationwide CNVR campaign.
“We would be very happy to offer our expertise, experience and advice to this end.”