More tales from the dog pound

PHUKET TOWN: The dog pound design that turned out to be a dog’s breakfast has been cleaned up, say officials. Capable of holding 1,000 animals, Phuket’s pound will open for business on March 1 next year at the latest, the Chief of the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO), Sunart Wongchawalit, told the Gazette yesterday. There was consternation last year when officials discovered that work on the pound, at Bang Kanoon forestry plantation, had begun on the wrong site. Sorting out the mess is costing more and taking a little longer than anticipated. “After some parts of the shelter had been finished, it was found to be too small and not built to specification,” K. Sunart said. “We had to adjust some parts of the plan, such as [the use of] barbed wire that could not keep the dogs in.” The original budget of 1.6 million baht was increased to 2.8 million to expand the size of the pound to cover four rai. The pound has been criticized by animal support groups and others concerned about pollution but K. Sunart said, “It will be no trouble to surrounding communities. Do not worry about pollution. “We have a proper system to handle it. The dogs’ area has been moved away from the stream so the water will not be contaminated,” he said. Local municipalities will take responsibility for rounding up strays and bringing them in. (Estimates of the number of strays on Phuket range up to 13,000.) “On arrival, the dogs will be separated into females and males and sterilized. Dogs that are savage or sick will be kept in isolation,” he said. “We will also have a service – like a dog hotel – allowing dog owners to leave pets when they are away from home for an extended period. The owners will have to pay for this service,” he said. “There will also be a training center for dogs to learn proper behavior so they can be adopted by families. Others will be trained to work with police as drug sniffers and for other duties.”