wild places | wild happenings | wild news
make a difference for our wild places

home | links | search the site
  all articles latest | past | articles by topics | search wildnews
wild news on wildsingapore
  Straits Times Forum Online 25 Nov 05
A dog is a dog. Don't look down on mongrels
 Letter from Boey Kit Yin (Ms)

I was positively aghast one morning on November 21 when an advertisement from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) came on the radio.

The advertisement promoting a laudable theme of responsible pet ownership runs on this line: if you don't sterilise your dog, she will bear you plenty of unwanted puppies.

But I grew horrified as I listened when a snobbish sounding woman dog owner with an accent to boot started to admonish her dog for getting impregnated by 'mixing with that stray mongrel'.

I couldn't hear the rest of it because the woman's voice was so distinctive. It was the only thing that registered in my mind. It is a misnomer to think that strays comprise mongrels only.

Pure-bred dogs are abandoned as well and they become strays running along the streets as homeless animals. Because of Singaporeans' obsession with status, mongrels had not been widely accepted in the past. Due to the efforts of dog welfare organisations such as ASD, ALL, Noah's Ark Cares and SPCA, mongrels are only slowly - too slowly though - coming into their own.

It is certainly contradictory that in encouraging responsible ownership, the AVA advertisement appears to promote snobbishness among dog owners.

It is also ironical considering that the AVA is organising an event this weekend that involves dog welfare organisations, all of which are committed to rescuing strays, mongrels and abandoned dogs.

The AVA is doing a good job, finally taking a proactive and supportive role, in educating the public on sterilising pets to reduce the high numbers of unwanted and abandoned pets.

By taking it a step further, such as educating the public that regardless of its breed or appearance, a dog is a dog, the AVA will also increase the adoption chances of all dogs - mongrels included.

But in putting out education programmes or advertisements, it has to be careful on what other messages it could be sending.

Unfortunately, in this case, the AVA has not been mindful and considerate in promoting the needs of mongrels, or strays for that matter. They are after all beloved dogs and pets as well.

I hope this is a genuine oversight rather than a calculated case of discrimination against mongrels.

Boey Kit Yin (Ms)
links
Related articles on Singapore: animal release including pets and animal abuse
about the site | email ria
  News articles are reproduced for non-profit educational purposes.
 

website©ria tan 2003 www.wildsingapore.com