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  Channel NewsAsia 30 Oct 05
World Animal Day event spreads message of care, responsibility
 By May Wong, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : Singapore has some 10,000 dogs and 60,000 cats abandoned on the streets today, and animal welfare groups fear these figures could rise.

Marking World Animal Day, a mini-fair at Bishan Park was held on Sunday to educate Singaporeans about the need to care for their pets. It was organised by the Action for Singapore Dogs.

Big or small, the four-legged friends seemed to enjoy a day out at the park; some even enjoyed a grooming session But they are the fortunate ones because they belong to someone, unlike some dogs there who were hoping to get adopted. One of the dogs up for adoption is little Ocean. She was found dirty, hungry and scared under an industrial truck last month. She is considered lucky because her seven other siblings were run over by vehicles.

The key message on this World Animal Day: exercise care and responsibility. This year alone, more than 6,000 dogs and 11,000 cats, all strays, have had to be put down. So authorities are hoping to step up educational activities for the young.

Said Dr Leow Su Hua, head (animal welfare education) at AVA, "We're looking at more community involvement where the community takes responsibility in educating our young people in schools. We hope we can work with them to form clubs, maybe pet-related clubs or animal welfare clubs, to raise the awareness of pet responsibility and animal welfare, and to generate some interest in animals and respect for animals as well."

Said Ricky Yeo, president of Action for Singapore Dogs, "In economic terms, Singapore is a first world country, but in terms of the spirit, I would say we're still in the dark ages. In terms of kindness and compassion towards animals, we're still not there yet. We're still in the dark ages where people buy pets out of whims and fancies, to reward their children and stuff like that and when they can't handle it, they either abandon their dog or something untoward would happen to their pet."

About 1,000 people turned up at the event.
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Singapore: animal release including pets and animal abuse
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