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RESCUED: SOS Animals' Ms Sandy Lim holding a dog saved from the central divider of TPE. The other on a leash was found tied to a bus-stop pole in Simei. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
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MORE dogs are being dumped by the roadside or given up to animal welfare groups since steep fines for keeping unlicensed canines kicked in on Sept 1.
The maximum fines, set at $5,000, up from just $500, were announced on Aug 7.
Licence fees have also gone up from $14 a year for an unsterilised male dog to $70 - the same for an unsterilised bitch. The licence fee for a sterilised male dog or bitch remains at $14 a year.
Another requirement: licensed dogs have to be implanted with a microchip, which will give details of the owner.
From then till Sept 7, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) reported that pet owners had left 107 dogs with it.
In the month of July, the number of dogs given up was just 62.
More worryingly, the SPCA took in 76 lost or abandoned dogs during that period, more than the 64 or so for June and July.
SPCA executive officer Deidre Moss said owners, worried about having unlicensed dogs, are giving them up or abandoning them because they do not want to pay the fines.
The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) wants all dogs licensed so it can take quick action in case of a rabies outbreak.
When the fine was at $500, it seemed pet owners were harbouring unlicensed pets with impunity, including large dogs in Housing Board flats.
Jacking up the fine 10 times was intended to push pet owners to get their dogs licensed. While the number of licensed dogs has increased by some 4,000 since last month, other dogs are being pushed out of the home.
Mr Madhavan Kannan, head of AVA's Centre for Animal Welfare and Control, said that licensed dogs now number about 51,000. Ms Moss thinks the number of unlicensed dogs is similar.
Some pet owners said they are reluctant to get their dogs licensed because of the cost and the inconvenience. Others said their dogs were too big to be kept in HDB flats.
Only dogs weighing less than 10kg and 40cm in height are allowed for HDB flat-dwellers.
Said Ms Moss: 'We suspect it is not so much the microchip rule but the high fines imposed for not having a licence that is resulting in more dogs being given up and abandoned.'
Ms Sandy Lim of SOS Animals, a non-profit animal welfare group, agrees.
She and her volunteers recently rescued a German Shepherd tied to a tree in Toa Payoh Park, a husky in Simei, and a Labrador in Paris Ris - all big dogs in the HDB heartland.
Although SOS Animals featured these dogs on its website, none was claimed.
SPCA advertises the dogs it rescues in newspapers but only seven of the 76 dogs found since Aug 7 have been claimed.
It shows that these animals had been abandoned, said Ms Moss.
To adopt a dog, visit www. spca.org.sg or e-mail sandy@sosanimals.com for more information.
khush@sph.com.sg
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