ANIMAL WELFARE EDUCATION

PET FILES

Education is undoubtedly one of the most effective ways to improve animal welfare and prevent cruelty, but trying to reshape attitudes and change people's behaviour towards animals is often difficult, requiring effort, knowledge and a long-term commitment.

EXPERT: Dr Komkrit Plakprajit, centre, talks about sterilisation and vaccinations.

Nonetheless, Bangkok's animal welfare organisation Scad, with the support of three local veterinary clinics, is happy to be rising to this challenge. By sharing knowledge in fun and rewarding ways, its aim is to foster a better understanding of the needs of animals and encourage a keener interest in responsible pet care.

In Kittiya Village, a neighbourhood on the southern outskirts of Bangkok, Scad's team lured people to their "Education Day" earlier this month by promising plentiful bargains on clothing and jewellery, free veterinary advice and rabies vaccinations for their pets, and special discounts on sterilisation surgery at three local veterinary clinics. As Scad volunteer Mark Stelzner said: "It appeared to have worked!"

Mr Stelzner, a keen photographer, went along to capture the event and support the team led by Scad's community liaison officer, Khun Mot. He said: "There appeared to be lively discussion between the residents and our team, with plenty of opportunities to share information. The vaccination clinic brought out dozens of animals, mostly dogs, from the surrounding area."

The day's tally was 27 free rabies vaccinations and three treatments for mange, and as the dogs hadn't trotted there by themselves, one can safely assume dozens of people came too. If only one person took away a little extra knowledge about animal welfare, then that's a success worthy of the effort put in by the organisers. In the future, an animal might benefit or owe its health to that shared snippet of information.

Taking up position next to the vet's treatment table and armed with a few simple questions about pet care - like "how often does a dog need to be vaccinated against rabies?" and "name one advantage of sterilising your pet" - Khun Mot offered free prizes to anyone giving the correct answers. Veterinarian Dr Komkrit Plakprajit was there with a microphone to share his knowledge, so everyone had a good chance of leaving with a gift.

Acknowledging that more attention had to be focused on animal welfare education for children, Khun Mot said: "The children didn't get many answers right, but the adults living in Kittiya Village did." This was promising news as Scad had previously invested time in a comprehensive spay/neuter and education campaign in this village, so this positive remark was testimony to the effectiveness of a consistent and ongoing approach to education where certain messages, like "Neuter Your Pets", have become a mantra in the community.

A door to door survey conducted at the outset of the Kittiya campaign had shown that many residents were unwilling to get their own dogs sterilised as they believed - wrongly - that the surgical procedure was dangerous and complicated, and that the dogs took too long to recover. Villagers have since remarked positively to Khun Mot that they had been happy to see the quick and safe return of the street dogs after sterilisation, and this feedback, she hoped, would encourage them to neuter their own pets.

Three local vet clinics jumped on board this pet neutering promotion, agreeing to provide low-cost sterilisations for anyone visiting their clinic and bringing a Scad brochure to indicate they were part of the Kittiya Village pet neutering project. Later this year, when the Scad team re-surveys people in this neighbourhood, one of the hoped-for outcomes is to see an increase in the number of pets sterilised. With 23% of Kittiya residents now admitting that they sometimes allow their pets to roam alone outside, and 9% saying their pets roam outside frequently, the need to promote neutering is ever more pressing if Bangkok is to see a reduction in the number of unwanted litters born or abandoned on the streets.

Education shouldn't be a missing link in the fight to improve animal welfare. With more individuals and animal-friendly organisations emerging in Thailand who are willing to tackle issues like pet abandonment and the humane control of dog populations, hopefully animal welfare education will soon take its rightful place on more school curriculums and corporate responsibility programmes and become a topic for government public awareness campaigns.