Category: Stray & Feral Animals

Animal Birth Control is fixing the dogs faster than anti-dog attitudes

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2007:

 

AGRA, AHMEDABAD, BANGALORE, CHENNAI,
DELHI, THIRUVANATHAPURAM, VISAKHAPATNAM–The
Koramangala pound in Bangalore may have been the
quietest location in India having anything to
with street dogs in the aftermath of a January 5,
2007 fatal pack attack on a nine-year-old girl
named Sridevi.
The Coalition for a Dog-Free Bangalore
and similar groups nationwide made Sridevi’s
death focal to ongoing efforts to reverse the
nine-year-old central government commitment to
sterilize street dogs instead of killing them.
(See guest column on page 7.)
In Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala state,
also called Trivandrum, a February 10, 2007
confrontation between dogcatchers capturing dogs
for extermination and proponents of the local
Animal Birth Control program reportedly burst
into violence.

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Defending Animal Birth Control after a fatal dog attack

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2007:
Defending Animal Birth Control after a fatal dog attack
by Poornima Harish

None of us are as smart as all of us. This was illustrated
in how the animal welfare organizations of Bangalore handled a recent
fatal dog attack.
Bangalore electrocuted street dogs until 1999, killing about
200 dogs per day, yet still suffered nearly 40 human rabies deaths
per year, plus dog population growth commensurate with the rising
human population.
Finally, in keeping with the Indian national policy adopted in
December 1997, the city opted to stop the killing and instead
support an Animal Birth Control program.
Beginning in October 2000, Banga-lore was divided into three
zones for ABC, to be handled by the Animal Rights Fund, Compassion
Unlimited Plus Action, and the Bangalore SPCA. At about the same
time the Krupa 24-Hour Helpline for Animals was commissioned to
counsel people about animal welfare and the ABC program.

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Shooting dogs is a sensitive subject in the Canadian far north

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:
WINNIPEG–“The solution,” to attacks by stray dogs on Native
American reservations in northern Canada, “is to cull the dog
population, and provide spay and neuter services to native
communities at the same time,” Winnipeg Humane Society executive
director Vicki Burns told Brookes Merritt of the Edmonton Sun on
November 19, 2006.
Though Burns apparently said nothing about shooting dogs,
her remark was summarized in the headline of the resulting article as
“Annual dog shoot proposed,” and in the lead sentence as “An annual
‘dog shoot’ would help keep dog packs on native reserves from killing
any more helpless children, says an animal welfare worker in
Manitoba.”

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Closing stray kennels to the general public reduces adoptions, increases killing

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:
Closing stray kennels to the general public
reduces adoptions, increases killing

by Bill Meade, founder, Shelter Planners of America
It is common for some shelters to maintain stray kennels
which the public are not allowed to enter, unless they say they have
lost a specific type of animal.
This is done because of concern that people may claim animals
who are not theirs; because the staff may be burdened with having to
explain that certain animals are not ready for adoption; because
explaining why an animal must be euthanized may be awkward; to
protect the public from bites; and to reduce the spread of disease
by keeping people from touching animals.
However, when an animal shelter prevents stray animals from
being seen–and touched–by the public, the shelter reduces the
number of interactions that may lead to the animals being adopted.
Failing to give each animal maximum exposure to the adopting public
can lead to avoidable killing.

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Which wild pigs are running amok in Malaysia? And why now?

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:
KUALA LUMPUR– Rampaging wild pigs are a problem in Malaysia,
practically all sources agree. Less clear is which wild pigs are the
culprits.
Malaysia has native warty pigs and bearded pigs, as well as
abundant feral domestic pigs–and they can hybridize.
The warty pigs and bearded pigs are subjects of conservation
concern, albeit perhaps more as prey for highly endangered tigers
than for their own sake. Malaysia now has as few as 500 tigers,
down from more than 3,000 circa 1950.
Feral and hybrid pigs are also prey for tigers, but
conservationists tend to view feral and hybrid pigs as unwelcome
competitors for warty and bearded pig habitat.

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Hong Kong kills feral pigs

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:
“The solution to the increasing havoc caused by marauding
bands of wild pigs in the New Territories is relatively simple: kill
them,” reported the South China Morning Post on December 21, 2006.
Sarah Liao Sau-tung, Hong Kong Secretary for Environment,
Transport and Works, confirmed a day earlier that members of hunting
clubs in Tai Po and Sai Kung had been officially encouraged to hunt
pigs more often. “We believe a lot of people will volunteer because
they enjoy it as a hobby,” Sau-tung said.

Boar panic grips Great Britain

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:
LONDON–“Police in Fife have issued a
warning after a wild boar escaped from the
abattoir in St Andrews,” BBC News reported on
November 28, 2006. “The public has been urged
not to approach the animal, which has large tusks
and teeth and may attack if it is cornered or
threatened.”
In truth, any pig can deliver a
bone-crunching bite, and any frightened boar or
sow can become deadly.
But the BBC warning was relatively
understated compared to much recent Fleet Street
hyperbole about feral European boars.

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Indian street pigs are mostly not feral

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:
DELHI, MYSORE, BANGALORE–India easily leads the world in
numbers of street pigs, but relatively few are completely feral.
Much of the Indian domestic pig population roams the streets to
forage, loosely attended by herders who may be blocks away.
Relatively few pigs are raised in confinement, in a nation whose
upper caste Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Muslims have
traditionally shunned pork.
Historically, only what are now called the “scheduled”
castes, “tribals,” and the Christian minority ate pork. For
millennia, pig-herding was accordingly a minor and not very
profitable branch of animal husbandry. This has recently abruptly
changed. A high birth rate among “scheduled” castes, increasing
affluence among “scheduled” caste members who have pursued subsidized
education, enabling them to buy more meat, and weakening caste
barriers throughout Indian society have enabled pig herders to
rapidly expand their markets.

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Editorial: Developing compassion for feral pigs

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:
Here come the pigs! See page one and the constellation of
related sidebars beginning on page 12 for particulars.
Nobody expected feral pigs and street pigs to become a
ubiquitous humane concern in the early 21st century–but not because
of indifference toward pigs. Most people just didn’t think of pigs
as a free-roaming species who might turn up almost anywhere, capable
of thriving without human help. But the timing is right for feral
pigs and street pigs to claim humane attention. More pigs may be at
large today, worldwide, than ever before. Certainly more pigs are
at large in North America.
Pig hunters are all but exempt from most of the laws that
govern other forms of hunting, since pigs are considered a
non-native invasive nuisance. So-called hog/dog rodeo, in which
packs of pit bull terriers are set upon captive feral pigs, has only
been illegal in many Southern states for under two years, and–like
dogfighting and cockfighting–still has a substantial following.

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