Neuter-and-release programme for stray dogs given official go-ahead
After decades of setbacks, animal welfare groups convince the government to back aneuter and release programme for strays, writes Elaine Yau
Every Saturday, volunteers fan out across the hills around Lion Rock in Wong Tai Sin to capture stray dogs, which are neutered before being released back into the woods. The non-profit-making Veterinary Service Society has performed the procedure on 300 of an estimated 500 stray dogs in the area since it started the scheme in 2009.
Society chairman and veterinarian Mark Mak Chi-ho reckons the programme, which recruited about 200 volunteers, has helped keep the population of strays around Lion Rock under control.
"Wong Tai Sin District Council has received fewer complaints from residents regarding feral dogs; puppies found in the hills are also adopted by pet owners," Mak says.
Yet despite its success, similar Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate and Release (TNVR) programmes for stray dogs have run into severe obstacles in other districts. Animal welfare activists say although schemes to spay cats operate without a hitch, those for canines have failed to take off because of government red tape and community objections.
I don’t think the government system is economically sustainable
Remarkably, there has yet to be a government-supported TNVR campaign for dogs, says Fiona Woodhouse, deputy director of welfare of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).