Read About How Much We Have Progressed In The Animal Welfare Movement In Singapore:ACRES Speech

Speech by Mr. Louis Ng, Executive Director, ACRES

Singapore Animal Welfare Symposium and Public Forum on Animal Welfare Policies

25 February 2012

Chong Pang Community Club

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Mr. K Shanmugam, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Law and MP for Nee Soon GRC, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

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A very good afternoon and, on behalf of ACRES, Chong Pang YEC, Chong Pang grassroots, NUS PEACE, Young NTUC and the PAP Community Foundation, thank you so much for joining us at the Singapore Animal Welfare Symposium and Public Forum on Animal Welfare Policies.

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The animal protection movement is undoubtedly growing exponentially in Singapore, and there has indeed been much progress over the past year.

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Let me spend the next ten minutes sharing with you some of the progress we have made together following the first-ever public form on animal welfare policies last June.

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Many of us are very concerned about the plight of the stray cats and raised this during the last forum. I am pleased to inform you that the AVA, Cat Welfare Society and 4 town councils launched the Stray Cat Sterilisation Programme in July 2011. Under the scheme, AVA subsidises 50% of sterilisation costs and micro-chipping for cats. Here in Chong Pang, I�m proud to inform you that the Sembawang Nee Soon Town Council is subsidising the other 50% of the cost, making the sterilisation and micro-chipping of stray cats in Chong Pang cost-free.

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We have also taken into consideration your feedback about allowing cat ownership in HDB flats. MND, AVA and Cat Welfare Society are currently working out the details for a pilot programme which will allow residents in Chong Pang to keep cats in their HDB flats. The key here is that residents will only be allowed to house stray cats, rather than buying cats from the pet shop. This will significantly improve the cat adoption rates in Singapore.

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MND, AVA, ASD and SPCA are also working on a pilot programme for rehoming stray mongrel dogs in HDB flats which will be launched later this year.

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We understand the need to lower the culling rates in Singapore, and AVA has established a framework for rehoming any captured strays.

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Beyond rehoming the strays, however, we are also looking into setting up a National Adoption Centre, which was one of the recommendations from the last forum. Minister Shanmugam and MND are supportive of the proposal to set up this Centre which will be managed by ASD and ALL. It will provide a dedicated community facility that supports and encourages adoption in a way that benefits the animals, our environment, and the community.

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We are also looking into your feedback about the trapping of strays. We understand this remains a very emotive issue, but one which needs to be addressed.

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I am pleased to inform you that AVA is currently not using the services of Francis Lee.

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AVA, in collaboration with SPCA, have also developed guidelines on the humane capture of stray animals.

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The animal control companies engaged by AVA must comply with the guidelines to avoid inflicting injury, fear, and other psychological distress on the animals.

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AVA will perform checks on all animals received to detect and investigate injury caused by inhumane capture.

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Lastly, AVA will publish these guidelines on their website. They will also publish the guidelines for the assessment of captured strays for their adoption suitability, and members of the public are welcome to provide feedback on these guidelines so that we can improve them.�

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The measures we have discussed so far are short-term or medium-term. We are, however, also looking into long-term solutions towards addressing the root of the problems.

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Puppy mills are undoubtedly one important issue we must tackle. To tighten regulations in this industry, AVA is looking into establishing a licensing requirement for individual commercial breeders instead of the current blanket license to the main farm owner, to guarantee responsible and humane dog breeding, and raise standards of care for dogs in breeding facilities. AVA is also looking into publishing the list of dog breeders when they license them.

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At the last forum, there were recommendations for animal welfare groups or AWGs to accompany AVA during their inspections of dog farms. I am pleased to inform you that AVA will be looking into arrangements for AWGs to accompany their officers for these inspections.

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There is also a need to regulate the pet shop industry, and AVA is considering making it mandatory for all pet shops and farms to license dogs at the point of sale. All dogs will be licensed during their second vaccination and micro-chipping. When they are sold, the license will be transferred to the owners.

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Following your recommendations, a national microchip database will be established where pets are registered in an integrated database to enable tracking of pet information and identification of owners of abandoned pets.

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We have also taken your feedback with regard to the need to strengthen our animal protection legislation. AVA is reviewing the Animals and Birds Act, including Sections 42 and 44 pertaining to Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to further strengthen it, and we welcome more feedback on possible amendments.

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Beyond these, we all agree that education and creating awareness on animal welfare issues is the way forward. The recommendations from the last forum were forwarded to MOE and we are delighted that MOE will consider enhancing the aspect of responsible pet ownership and animal welfare in the design of the new Character and Citizenship Education Programme in schools. AVA is also working closely with AWGs to expand their responsible pet ownership programme.

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We have also discussed your concerns about the fate of SAF and SPF service dogs once they are retired. I am delighted to inform you that SAF military dogs who are not adopted after retirement will be cared for at the SAF kennels for the rest of their lives. They will not be put to sleep because no one adopts them. Similarly, SPF holds adoption drives and works closely with animal welfare groups such as Gentle Paws to ensure that all dogs who are suitable for adoption are adopted, and not put down.�

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Lastly, we have also discussed your concerns about macaque issues with NParks. I am pleased to inform you that NParks is working together with AVA to consider alternative population management control measures besides culling, such as sterilisation.

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I am sure that you will agree with me that there has undoubtedly been progress in the past year. By working together, by providing constructive feedback, and by engaging each other positively, we have achieved more for the animals.

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While some of us want progress to happen at a faster pace, which is understandable, we must ensure that we have a balanced approach and understand that there are always alternative views to animal protection issues. Ultimately, we share a common goal and ultimately we are heading in the right direction.

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There are many more issues we need to address and we will continue to work on them, and we look forward to your constructive feedback at the forum session shortly.

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Let us continue this journey together, let us remain positive that change is happening, and let us continue to be the voice for animals.

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Once again, thank you so much for attending the event today and for helping to shape animal welfare policies in Singapore.

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Thank you.

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