ABANDONED PETS: TRACKING DOWN THE CULPRITS
The Straits Times, 14 Jul 2002

More people here are dumping their pets, and animal-welfare groups say the recent changes in the law are not enough to end this form of cruelty. Their suggestion: Put the owner's name onto a microchip implanted under the pet's skin, and fine him if he abandons it. PAULA McCOY reports

WHEN the kitten outgrows its cuteness, the puppy digs up the garden, and the bunny becomes boring, their fate is often the same: They are abandoned.

Owners who were once loving will drop off their cat near some hawker centre, leave their dog at a construction site and release their rabbit at a neighbourhood park.

The cats and dogs, although accustomed to being fed even if they are not wanted, generally survive. They join the legions of strays across the island that live on food scraps and the kindness of strangers.

Domestic rabbits usually die of starvation within days, if they are not killed by a car or an animal first.

Singapore animal-welfare groups say the abandonment of pets is on the rise and is a far bigger problem than animal cruelty.

Action for Singapore Dogs estimates that 10,000 stray dogs are wandering around construction sites and barren tracts of land around the island. The estimate for cats is about 200,000 and, for rabbits, about 200 at any one time.

Said Animal Lovers League president Cathy Strong: 'People are just not behaving responsibly. When the Year of the Rabbit comes around, for example, people buy them, but they just dump them one year later when the rabbits aren't helping them with the lottery any more.'

Mr Ricky Yeo, 33, a founding member of Action for Singapore Dogs, said: 'Calls from the public to take in dogs found on the streets have been increasing. We may receive up to eight such appeals a week.

'But these do not include people who have bought pets and intend to give them away for superficial reasons, such as insufficient time.'

Each year, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) have to put down about 9,000 dogs and 12,000 cats, the majority of which are abandoned.

Last year alone, about 1,000 unwanted rabbits were handed to the society.

All five animal-welfare groups contacted by The Sunday Times welcomed a new law passed in Parliament last week which makes abandonment a crime.

But the groups say it will be difficult to enforce this law and have called for a properly-managed microchipping programme to back it up.

'People can simply claim that they took their dog for a walk and it didn't come back,' said Mr Yeo.

Prosecuting people, says the AVA, would require witnesses to testify that a person has abandoned his pet. 'A person would have to be caught in the act of dumping the animal,' a spokesman said.

At present, microchipping pets is only necessary for imported animals. A vet inserts the chip under the skin on the animal's neck at a cost of about $100 at some vet surgeries, and $25 at the SPCA.

The tiny gadget has a number on it which can tell officials the name and address of the animal's registered owner. That person could then be fined for abandoning the animal if microchipping were made law for both imported and Singapore-bred animals.

'It's the best way of keeping track,' said Ms Dawn Kua, director of operations for the Cat Welfare Society. 'The new law and penalties will be a deterrent, but it's not easy to catch someone in the act.'

Ms Strong said: 'Microchipping is ultimately the best way of making owners respect their pets.'

But she added that a proper sterilisation programme needs to be in place, too. 'It can't just be left to the animal organisations. What we do is just a Band Aid. We can't cope with it fast enough. Strays are a national problem and it requires commitment at a government level.'

Welfare groups applauded the Government's move to increase the penalties for animal-cruelty offences. Offenders can now be fined up to $10,000 and jailed for 12 months, compared to $500 and six months before.

The House Rabbit Society of Singapore said it receives two or three calls and e-mail messages a week about cruelty - almost always regarding the conditions in which the animals are being kept. It passes these on to the SPCA and the AVA to investigate.

'Often, the rabbits are in very small cages without food and water,' said Mr Kapil Sharma, 25, president of the House Rabbit Society of Singapore and a consultant with a telecommunications firm.

'Some owners feed them waste food, but rabbits need proper food. Other owners are not educated enough about rabbit care and some say they don't have the time. Sometimes, children are left with the responsibility and don't know what to do. In any case, the rabbit suffers,' Mr Sharma said.

Cats can suffer horribly at the hands of residents here.

Madam Jessie Chan, a volunteer with the Cat Welfare Society, has seen stray cats which had been kicked to death, beheaded with parangs, hit so hard on the head that their eyes popped out, thrown from high-rise buildings and scalded with boiling water.

Madam Chan feeds strays in the Kampong Glam area, which the society claims to be the cat-abuse capital of Singapore. It includes North Bridge Road, Beach Road and Jalan Sultan.

Said the Cat Welfare Society's Ms Kua: 'Last year, 45 cats were killed there. So far this year, about 10 to 15 cats have been killed.'

Madam Chan offered $200 of her own money as a reward for anyone who would come forward with information about the culprits.

But no one did. Now, the society is offering a $1,000 reward for information.