Thurs 7th June: NIMBY: No TNR in my back yard

My glee at being asked by AFCD Pokfulam not to visit their Animal Management Centre today due to staff shortage was short-lived after receiving the following message regarding the result of a vote by the Ho Chung (Saikung) District Council on whether they agreed on trail TNR (Trap, Neuter and Return) in their area.  What kind of infantile and/or moronic thinking is behind their decision when it’s obvious that area was chosen precisely because there is already a stray dog problem and TNR is going to help.  Do they think that entire (not desexed) stray dogs aren’t a nuisance whereas desexed (and rabies vaccinated) dogs would be?  If there is a shared brain cell or a shred of common sense between them it had gone missing at the time of the vote.

“Dear TNR supporters:
The Sai Kung district council committee for “Housing and Environmental Hygiene” had their meeting today and they decided: they support the TNR scheme but they do not want it to take place in Ho Chung for hygiene and safety reasons.
Some possible sites were suggested but it is not clear if those sites are suitable.

Elisabeth Buechi
Support Group TNR for Sai Kung”

I can’t say I was surprised at the result, in fact I would have fallen off my chair had it been a yes.  These short-sighted (in all ways probably) self-serving and arrogant New Territories Village Idiots are allowed to do what they want.  It seems the police are scared of them and the Government Departments (like Lands Department) kowtow to their every wish and whim.  Who is there left to stand up to the thugs and morons who care only for themselves and how to make money?  Why didn’t AFCD simply say yes to TNR?  Who runs Hong Kong, the Government, a weed with a bow tie, or the Village Heads?  I know the answer to that.

I’ve been told (by someone that knows him well) that the new Chief Executive is no pushover, and maybe he will be the one to stand up to the lawmakers and lawbreakers in the New Territories.  Maybe he will be able to see the blindingly obvious, that dealing with the stray dog population at source is the only way to reduce the numbers, and that by ignoring what is already a serious problem is a recipe for disaster.

Honestly, I love living in Hong Kong and there are many good things I can say about it, but the old New Territories laws and rules that allow the local villagers to make up their own laws, and use intimidation to enforce them, need to be thrown out.

My day off from AFCD allowed me to spend some time in the office with Linda, Cactus and Silvena, something I rarely have time for.  There are many things behind the scenes that have to be dealt with, and while the ‘front end’ (the dogs) of HKDR is what most people see, it needs a ‘back end’ to keep it all going.  It was good timing because it was Linda’s birthday and I was able to help her eat the cake that mysteriously (to me) arrived, apart from everything else.

I usually stop off at the Homing Centre when I go to Ap Lei Chau, just to show my face and see what’s what if nothing else.  I’d already been told by Kathy (standing in for Iris) that peke Phoebe wasn’t at all well, and when I saw her lying in her pen I said she should go straight to the vet.  Hing the driver was already there having just picked up Henry, the Boston terrier who had swallowed a piece of rubber something, so he was able to do a quick turnaround and head straight back to Acorn.  I’d also asked that he pick up three puppies from their foster homes to take for their due vaccinations so they’d be up to date for Sunday’s Whiskers’n'Paws afternoon.  It was a bit of a risk sending him out alone (in fact it turned out volunteer Norma went with him), but he managed.

I got a call later from vet Andy telling me that Phoebe was really very sick and probably had renal failure judging from the amount of weight she had lost, and she was already very thin when I got her.  At these times euthanasia is the only option because to delay it would only cause suffering, and there’s no way back when a dog has reached this stage.  Phoebe’s stay with us was short but she was certainly loved a lot, that’s for sure.