As Pet Stores Multiply, So Do Abandonments, Euthanizations

by Kimberley Coleman

The number of pet stores in Singapore is increasing. In 2003 alone, 18 new stores opened. 'Fur Kids,' one of the newest pet stores, sold approximately 120 dogs in the first four months after opening.

At the same time, the Singapore Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is finding more and more companion animals are being abandoned. Around five percent of all dogs sold are returned to pet stores, while the SPCA receives over a thousand animals per month, of which approximately three hundred are dogs.

With a capacity of only 150 animals, the SPCA must euthanize the overflow of animals who cannot be placed or housed.

"The SPCA takes in thousands of animals every year, and we cannot keep justifying euthanasia as a way to regulate these numbers.....it is time the relevant authorities step in," commented SPCA Executive Officer Deirdre Moss.

5,600 animals were taken in by the SPCA in 1984. In 2002, the annual number had risen to 12,309.

More than 41,000 dogs were officially licensed in Singapore in 2003. Most were purchased from Singapore pet stores, who sell imported breeds as well as dogs from local breeders.

The SPCA estimates the total number of dogs in Singapore at around 68,000.

The increased number of pet stores, together with the rise in the number of abandoned dogs, are putting pressure on the authorities to implement regulations restricting the number of dogs for sale.

Pet store owners and employees are highly criticized for inadequate screening of buyers, despite claims by many pet store owners that they follow up with the dogs they sell and will accept them back should the animal not fit into the purchasing family's lifestyle.

Singapore has laws banning cats, and medium and large sized dogs, from living within HDB flats, where 85% of the population resides. As a result, only a tiny segment of the population is legally able to adopt these types of animals from the SPCA.

Some feel that education of store owners, employees, and purchasers of animals would assist in reducing the number of abandoned animals.

According to the SPCA, however, education alone will not go far enough to mitigate the problem. They are calling for the authorities to impose legal restrictions on the number of animals pet stores can sell.

© 2004 Animal News Center, Inc.