KUCHING: The Save our Strays (SOS) and two neighbourhood communities will write letters of appeal to the authorities concerned and propose a humane solution to the rabies threat on April 15, 2019.
This was revealed at a press conference held at the Tristan Coffee and Roastery, Block E, Queen’s Court here yesterday.
The two neighbourhood communities, namely Green Heights-Borneo Garden (GHBG) and Tabuan Tranquillity Phase 4 (TT4) and SOS said each of them would be submitting open letters to the State Disaster Management Committee chairman, National Disaster Management Committee chairman and Sarawak Department of Veterinary Services director on April 15.
The move is aimed at highlighting “Ops Rabies” which went viral in the social media on measurements taken by the government to cull stray dogs in the fight against the rabies threat.
At yesterday’s press conference, TT4 community vice president Dean Kuan said, “We don’t consider dogs here as strays but see them as community dogs which protect our neighbourhood from break-ins.”
“We are aware of the precautions taken by the government on the rabies threat. Stray dogs in some areas that are crucial and can’t be contained need to be culled but for areas that are not at risk, there should be an option,” he said.
Dean further explained that the two communities (TT4 & GHBG) had implemented a neighbourhood programme known as “The Community Dog” which functions as a security measure in a residential area.
“We have done this for several years now and the community dogs in the area are neutered and vaccinated annually. We even have a database on the dogs in our community,” he pointed out.
Dean added that the programme also helped to control the population of the free roamers as the dogs were vaccinated and tagged.
“The dogs will be safe from the disease and will act as a first line of defence against the spread of rabies as they are territorial and wary of outsiders or other stray dogs. If we remove them, other dogs will come and take their place,” he said.
He also said that the residents were more comfortable with the presence of the community dogs than the strays that came after the community dogs were removed.
“We believe the Trapped-Neutered-Vaccinated-Released (TNVR) method initiated by SOS is more effective in protecting our area and the best way to curb the strays population and rabies threat,” he added.
The campaign is an initiative by GHBG and TT4 communities with SOS by adopting an innovative and proactive approach to protect the neighbourhoods from break-ins and thefts. It is also a mean to propose a humane solution in the fight against rabies threat in our country.
Among those present were KRT GHBG secretary Andrew Tsen, GHBG Animal Welfare Sub-committee member Suziana Ismail, Stutong Baru 14, committee member David Law, TT4 committee member Maggie Tay and SOS executive and public relations officer Kimberly Lim Li Na.
SOS also encouraged other community groups to understand and participate in the programme. If the public wish to know more about the TNVR method they can contact SOS via email at soskuching@gmail.com .
SOS also conducts a campaign on awareness of rabies threat where it provides services for the TT4 and GHBG by bringing strays or pets of busy owners for vaccination or neutering.
SOS also provides subsidised programmes to encourage pet owners to vaccinate and neuter their pets.
