MAY 30

MAY 30, 2003
Culling Of Strays
Sterilising cats has not solved problem

I REFER to the recent Forum page letters and press articles on the culling of stray cats in Singapore. We thank readers for their feedback, and would like to take this opportunity to explain our stray cat population control programme.

There are an estimated 80,000 stray cats in Singapore. A large stray cat population causes public health, environmental and nuisance problems.

Stray cats scavenge for food, defecate and urinate in public places, and stray into homes. In addition, unsterilised cats caterwaul, causing noise nuisance. It is thus necessary to control their numbers.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) adopts a multi-prong approach to controlling the stray cat population.

Culling is carried out routinely to keep the number of strays under control. Together, the AVA and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals put down about 10,000 to 13,000 stray cats per year.

In 1998, the Stray Cat Rehabilitation Scheme was initiated as an additional and more humane method to complement culling in keeping the number of stray cats under control. Such schemes have been implemented successfully in some countries.

The scheme encourages dedicated volunteers to work with town councils to control the stray cat population through sterilisation and responsible management of the cats.

The volunteers are expected to manage the cats properly to ensure that they do not cause a nuisance to the community, and that the environment is kept clean.

To date, 16 town councils and several private estates have adopted this scheme. There are about 170 areas with almost 500 volunteers registered with the scheme. The AVA estimates that there are 10,000 sterilised stray cats in Singapore.

However, there has been feedback that the scheme is not working well in some town councils, and the AVA has received an increased number of complaints about the nuisance caused by stray cats, including those under the scheme.

In view of this, the scheme has been suspended pending further review and consultation withstakeholders.

As part of the Singapore's OK campaign, the National Environment Agency, town councils and the AVA have been working together to clean up the environment and improve public hygiene in markets, hawker centres and food establishments.

This includes intensified clearing of stray animals (cats and dogs) and vermin (rats and cockroaches) from such places.

Food establishments should not have stray animals or vermin for public health reasons. In such places, vermin and stray animals are likely to come into close contact with people and food.

These creatures can carry germs that people may pick up from bites and scratches, or from food, utensils and surfaces that have been contaminated by them.

At the same time, town councils have been advised to focus their culling efforts on the 70,000 stray cats outside the Stray Cat Rehabilitation Scheme, and to avoid removing the sterilised stray cats unless they have become a nuisance or are found in food establishments.

As of Wednesday, only eight out of the 422 cats rounded up this month are sterilised cats.

The AVA is also addressing the stray animal problem in the long term through public education on responsible pet ownership.

Our officers are actively involved in giving school and public talks, and participating in public exhibitions to promote responsible human behaviour towards animals.

The AVA will also work with animal welfare groups to identify other long-term sustainable solutions to control the problem of strays. Through such efforts, we hope to minimise the need to cull unwanted animals in the future.

GOH SHIH YONG
Corporate Communications Manager
for Chief Executive Officer
Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority
Ministry of National Development