Thursday, September 30, 2010

Questions for no-kill animal shelters



The Straits Times
STForum

Sep 29, 2010
Questions for no-kill animal shelters

MS CELINE Lee praised the 'no-kill' policy by local animal shelter, Action for Singapore Dogs ('Get tough on animal abuse'; Forum Online, Sept 16). Quite a few shelters make a similar claim .

While commendable, it raises some questions. How do these shelters keep the stray population on their premises manageable?

Do these shelters take in every animal that is surrendered or is it a selective intake? Given the space constraints these shelters face and the limited number of foster homes, isn't it possible that a large number would have to be turned away? And if they are, wouldn't these strays be consigned to certain death when the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) rounds them up?

Perhaps these shelters could explain their humane alternatives. I agree with Ms Lee that there is a lot more the AVA can do instead of killing strays to solve the problem.

Fong Yuet Ming (Ms)