Dog pound to be built in Rawai

RAWAI: Samart Jaranyanont, Chief of Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO), has announced that a dog pound is to be built on a two-rai plot behind Wat Sawangarom to provide a home for Phuket’s stray dogs. K. Samart told the Gazette that the Phuket Public Works Office is currently drawing up construction plans for the pound, which will keep healthy dogs segregated from diseased ones. “We have received 100,000 baht from the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), so it is likely that the project will be completed. The president of the OrBorJor, Dr Prasit Koysiripong, is a strong supporter of the project,” he said. The project gathered momentum when the proposal was agreed upon by members of the Rawai OrBorTor, a representative from the local village and a monk from the wat at a meeting on February 9. The PPLO, the provincial department responsible for stray animals, has tried to find an alternative solution to the problem of the 2,000 stray dogs on the island since a public backlash over the slaughter of strays last year. “It’s not illegal for us to cull stray dogs. It is an old government policy to decrease the number of stray dogs in every province. But only here in Phuket has there been a public outcry against this method,” K. Samart said. But, he noted, “Only one dog pound will not be enough to control the entire stray population. We expect the Karon Municipality and the Wichit OrBorTor to build pounds for their own strays. “One thing that concerns me is that too many dogs may be dumped at the pound – as has happened in Bangkok, where the pound now costs 200,000 baht a month to run. Most Phuket residents love dogs while they’re still puppies, but don’t care for them when they grow up,” Samart said. “What I’d really like to see is a whole island set aside for stray dogs. We could release them there,” he added.