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Activists call for better handling of strays
I thought I saw a pussycat: A stray cat tries its luck in a dump
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I thought I saw a pussycat: A stray cat tries its luck in a dump. Each year, the city administration rounds up several stray animals, including cats, dogs and monkeys, but the sight of them, especially cats, is still very common. JP
Animal right activists urged the city’s husbandry, fishery and maritime agency to be more transparent when carrying out raids to control the population of stray animals around the capital.
“We are deeply concerned with the welfare of stray animals. What happens to stray animals caught in the agency’s raids is always unclear,” Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN) domestic animals welfare advisor Karin Franken told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
“If strays caught in raids must be euthanized, then euthanasia should be conducted using the right procedures. Proper procedures must also be put in place to identify which stray animals are healthy and which ones are sick,” said Franken.
Franken urged the use of euthanasia drugs causing an immediate and painless death.
JAAN and other animal right activists also noticed stray animals kept in the agency’s Balai Kesehatan Hewan dan Ikan (BKHI) shelter in Ragunan, South Jakarta, were in poor condition.
“The cats and dogs are starving there,” Franken said, adding that JAAN was aware budget constraints made it harder for the agency to look after stray animals properly.
BKHI officers denied the Post access to the shelter complex when the Post visited the site on Monday.
Last year, BKHI shelters received 699 strays from the five municipalities around the city, of which 80 percent were cats, 19 percent dogs and less than 1 percent were monkeys. In the first two months of 2009, 176 more strays have been brought to the shelter.
“Only 2 to 3 percent were euthanized,” BKHI’s animal health service head Naniek Susetijoharti told the Post. She declined to detail the euthanasia procedure.
“Some 80 percent of the stray animals kept were adopted by residents as pets,” said Naniek.
When asked what happened to the remaining stray animals, Naniek said, “They mostly died because they were old and sick.”
Another officer, Samsuri, added that “some also died due to food shortage”.
Naniek said the stray animals at BKHI were fed every morning and afternoon and their cages were cleaned too.
“We always make sure stray animals offered for adoption are healthy by keeping them under observation for a two-week period,” said Naniek, adding that only healthy strays were vaccinated.
She declined to reveal the budget allocation for running the shelter, saying that “most of the budget is spent on raids and treating the animals at the shelter.”
“Some parts of the budget go toward feeding strays,” Samsuri said, while also declining to reveal the exact amount allocated.
“Controlling the population of stray animals can not be handled by the agency alone,” said Franken.
She added that animal lover communities were willing to help the agency, especially in carrying out raids, euthanasia procedures, sterilization and vaccination as well as provision of better drugs.
Franken said the agency could learn from the successful smaller-scale operation that handled stray animals in the Pramuka islet of the Thousand Islands Regency last year. The program consisted of animal right activists, residents, officials of the regency and the conservation park cooperating to look after 239 stray animals in the islet.
Interested in adopting stray cats or dogs from the BKHI shelter?
Pay a visit to the agency’s shelter on Jl. Harsono RM No. 28 Ragunan in South Jakarta.
