Claudia Calleja
Microchip and neuter the strays
Call for government to pay for action on the street dogs
Coma, a future guide dog, was treated at Happy Paws. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
Stray dogs should be neutered and microchipped and the cost footed by the government, according to an animal organisation.
A database could then be set up to obtain a clear picture of the population, added Lino Mintoff of Happy Paws.
“The government has introduced microchipping for domestic dogs, which is great, but what about strays? We need to build a picture of the stray population to be able to tackle the problem, he said.
But Mr Mintoff stressed this would only make sense in conjunction with neutering, the only way to control growing numbers of dogs on the streets.
He wants the strays picked up, neutered and microchipped, at the government’s expense, then taken back to where they were found. Earlier this year a new law obliged dog owners to microchip their pets by June 2012. Microchipping of strays would pay off in the long run as the government’s new San Franġisk animal hospital in Ta’ Qali spends huge sums treating them.
The Sunday Times recently reported that in the first nine months of the year, 535 of the 1,977 injured strays picked up on the streets by the animal ambulance and taken to San Franġisk were put down by vets.
Animal organisations are not shocked with the figure because animals run over often had horrific injuries.
Happy Paws’ president Maike Beekman said the organisation neutered an average of 15 cats and eight dogs a day.
An unneutered female cat could be the source of 420,000 cats over seven years, she said, stressing the importance of neutering.
Happy Paws, a voluntary organisation, was founded in 2004 and started off as a charity shop that gave vouchers for neutering to be redeemed at vet clinics.
With the voucher system being abused, however, the group decided to open its own clinic in Marsa in 2008. Today, Happy Paws has some 13,000 members who pay a fee of €15 a year that entitles them to the neutering of an unlimited number of strays.
Members have to pay the cost price for any medication and pet owners are charged normal vet rates. The organisation also has an agreement with three sanctuaries – Abandoned Animals’ Association, Noah’s Ark and Island Sanctuary – to neuter strays. In 2008 Happy Paws started an adoption scheme with the sanctuaries. Anyone who adopts an animal over two years old benefits from free treatment at the clinic. The organisation manages to balance its books through membership fees, donations and the charity shops in Ħamrun and Marsascala as well as a book shop in Ħamrun.
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Christopher Grech
Nov 28th 2011, 12:28
Mr. Mintoff should re-examine what it means to micro-chip any animals. Rather than Happy Paws, they should be Sad Paws instead.
Vets and animal organizations are told what to do, and hardly any homework is done by themselves.
Some 10% of chipped animals get cancer. Do your own research. Even if they do not get cancers, they should feel uncomfortable with it.
Sarah Gatt said what is the problem? Well plenty!
For starters, dog lovers treat them well and the intention is for those stray dogs who do not have a regular home or run them loose.
Real god lovers do not chip them. I would prefer if they got lost than being chipped and may get seriously sick.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18531
The above is full proof that not all is well with the chips.
Ms maria bonnici
Nov 27th 2011, 19:18
JUST ONE QUESTION does! microchipping endager the lives of the dogs????? that is what i heard!!!!
Sarah Gatt
Nov 28th 2011, 08:18
No it does not. My own dogs have been microchipped and they are in perfect health. Why would it endanger their lives? On the contrary, it keeps them safe; should they run away and be found by someone else, they can be taken to a vet, their chip scanned, and safely returned to me. What's the problem?
Ms Sylvia Zammit
Nov 27th 2011, 16:18
'Island Sanctuary' fully supports this appeal. In an ideal world, every dog/cat would have a home - and every home would have a dog/cat.Unfortunatley for all the abandoned dogs and cats in Malta, Malta is far from the ideal! Unless one is directly involved (as we have been for over 20 years) it is hard to understand how difficult it is to control the stray population. As far back as 16 years ago, The Island Sanctuary started helping by neutering the stray dogs found in entities such as the Dockyard, Enemalta, and Industrual Estates all over Malta.We did this at our expense - and using our own time and cars - no Animal welfare back then - no vouchers! By now, all the strays in such places should have died out - but guess what? There are as many as ever!NOT BECAUSE THE STRAYS BRED, BUT BECAUSE MORE WERE DUMPED! Microchipping is a huge step forward - but many idiots refuse
to do it because they see it as just another tax.Guess what they will do with their unwanted pets? Any poor dog whose cheapskate owner could not be bothered to have him microchipped will find himself at the mercy of the 'Police' - to dispose of at their discretion!!!The very word DISPOSE says it all! Maybe all the know it all critics would like to get off their ass and do something by at least adopting a dog?
At the government's expense is translated at the taxpayer's expense, which obviously annoys Phil sam and countless more like him.But guess what? My taxes are supporting drug addicts and 'so called single mothers' (who live with their partners, but claim benefits.Not to mention those who are jobless out of choice, and those who claim they have no job, yet make more on the side than a civil servant can ever make! Given the choice, I would like the tax I pay to go to support this effort - after all, no matter how many gardens are embellished, playgrounds built etc - they are all out of bounds to me and my dogs.
Mr phil sam
Nov 27th 2011, 11:57
"He wants the strays picked up, neutered and microchipped, at the government’s expense, then taken back to where they were found." . But they will become strays again, LOGIC or what ?.
Ms Sylvia Zammit
Nov 27th 2011, 15:32
Ever heard of .Neuter and release? It is practiced in many countries-and the only way to control an ever growing population of strays.
V. Cauchi
Nov 27th 2011, 10:42
What is the use of having stray dogs picked up, neutered and microchipped, if the only policy has till now been that of having them picked up and eliminated? The most troublesome part is picking them up, after which they can be secluded, to be merciful. We already have enough trouble with owned microchipped angry and uncontrolled dogs, let alone "caring" for stray dogs. At this rate of topsy-turvy mindsets, it looks like we shall soon have animal lovers crying against rodent control!
Sarah Gatt
Nov 28th 2011, 08:23
Don't be ridiculous. Animals' behaviour depends on their training. If a domestic dog does not behave accordingly, there must be some mistake from the owner's side. Naturally, stray dogs' instincts will be far less suppressed, since there was no one to train them. And why should we not care for stray dogs after all? Undoubtedly, half the stray dogs on Malta's streets today were once domesticated, and were thrown out by their owners.