lRescued... then killed

 http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=80008&sid=23221956&con_type=3
 
Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is under fire for putting down a stray puppy just after it was saved from drowning.

The mongrel, about one year old, was rescued yesterday morning from a water catchment area at Shing Mun Reservoir in Tsuen Wan during a heavy downpour.

Members of the Fire Services Department, who were called by passersby, hauled out the animal, which was found to be exhausted, frightened and shivering.

When two officers wrapped the dog in a blanket a woman - fearing it would be handed over to the SPCA or the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department - shouted: "Please let it go or it will be put down."

But the dog was taken to the SPCA clinic in Kowloon, where it was given a checkup and put to sleep.

Hong Kong Cat Refuge volunteer Jane Wong Suet-ching accused the SPCA and the agriculture department of euthanizing stray animals without justification.

"What they have done comes as no surprise as it happens from time to time," Wong said. "That is why our volunteers prefer to try to keep injured animals and nurse them back to health instead of calling the SPCA or the department." But the SPCA defended its actions, saying the dog was frail, suffered from malnutrition and was losing its hair as a result. It weighed less than 10 kilograms compared with the normal 15kg to 20kg for a dog of its type and age. "What we did was in the best interest of the animal," SPCA public relations manager Rebecca Ngan Yee-ling said

Ngan said most stray animals do not live beyond four or five years old owing to lack of care. "Many are seriously injured or killed in accidents, such as being run over by cars, trapped in water catchment areas or sometimes eating poisonous food," she said. "The best way to help the stray dogs and cats is to desex them to avoid the suffering of the next generation - which is what we try to do."