[kennyphon]

Malaysiakini on May 1, 09 4:33pm: Pulau Ketam dogged by stray canines

The residents of Pulau Ketam have been complaining for several years now of a huge population of stray dogs in the fishing island.

They have claimed that there were about 2,600 stray dogs in the two village settlements in this island, located just off Port Klang in Selangor.

And with the approval of the Klang Municipal Council (MPK), the villagers recently swung into action to get rid of the stray dogs - they caught the dogs and shipped them off to a nearby uninhabited Pulau Tengah. To date, they have trapped and abandoned about 400 stray dogs in Pulau Tengah.

While this could have solved their woes in the interim period, this is not the solution for the problem, said the Society For The Prevention of Cruelty To Animals (SPCA) Selangor.

SPCA now wants to get into action to solve the stray-dog crisis for the villagers as well as save the dogs from the cruel treatment of being abandoned in an uninhabited island.

Working with Save The Strays (SAS), SPCA is looking at a "humane and holistic solution" to the Pulau Ketam stray dog crisis.

For starters, plans are being readied to recapture the abandoned dogs from Pulau Tengah, and arrange for temporary shelter for these dogs.

The dogs will then be neutered and re-homed, or relocated, said SPCA is a statement today.

Meetings arranged with village heads

Both SPCA and SAS also have plans to educate dog owners on the island and actively promote neutering for their pet dogs, to prevent the births of yet more unwanted animals. SPCA Selangor will sponsor the sterilisation charges.

"We hope to organise a meeting with relevant village heads to ascertain the residents' responsibilities and obtain their commitment to stop trapping and dumping of strays.

"Residents will also be urged to take responsibility of caring for the stray dogs by sterilising them," said the SPCA statement. SPCA also said that during a visit two weeks ago to Pulau Ketam with Department of Veterinary Services officials, its team members saw about 30 stray dogs during the daytime.

Villagers however have told them that the dogs only appeared when the tide came in and spent their time living beneath the houses and walkways which were built on stilts

SPCA Selangor chairperson Christine Chin said that stray dogs were a human problem and borne out of our negligence and irresponsibility.

SPCA strongly proposes spay/neuter of all owned pets to reduce the over-breeding of unwanted pets, she added.

"This is the most humane way to stop this overpopulation. Throwing dogs onto uninhabitable islands is cruel as these dogs will meet miserable and cruel deaths in time to come," she said.