FIJI now has an exploding street dog crisis and urgent actions need to be taken to tackle the matter, says Lautoka animal activist Mohammed Khan.
“One dog can produce 16 puppies a year – and then those puppies grow up and they breed,” he said.
“Over six generations, that results in a staggering 67,000 unwanted puppies who get turned out on the street.
“Government-sponsored animal birth control programs work in many other countries across the world with similar problems.
“The animals undergo a simple, quick and safe operation undertaken by qualified vets and the cycle of breeding more and more animals is stopped immediately.”
Mr Khan believed the government had the opportunity to provide a simple solution to the street dog crisis by offering free desexing of pets.
The Lautoka man, who is also the spokesperson for The Greater Good Foundation animal sanctuary, has also called for an end to the policy of some councils paying workers to trap and kill, or to poison street dogs at night.
“Fiji is on the world stage and reliant on tourism for its economic wellbeing.
“These terrible policies end up as brutal images shown all over social media to the world. It is unacceptable cruelty – and the world expects better from us.”
Foundation offers shelter to more than 200 street dogs and conducts birth control and feeding program for animals living on the streets in the Western Division.
In the past year they have been responsible for desexing hundreds of animals and are making a huge contribution to the control of the street dog population.
