![\"Shrilanka](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.animals24-7.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Picsart_25-02-14_15-29-28-020-e1739575810383.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\n(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n TRINCOMALEE,\u00a0 Sri Lanka;\u00a0 HATAY,\u00a0 Turkey;\u00a0 HANOI, Vietnam\u2013\u2013<\/strong>Landlocked Hatay province in arid southeastern Turkey,\u00a0 humid Vietnam,\u00a0 more than four thousand air miles farther east,\u00a0 and Trincomalee,\u00a0 an ancient port city on the east coast of Sri Lanka,\u00a0 about equidistant from either Hatay or Hanoi,\u00a0 have only three things obviously in common:\u00a0 all three are in Asia,\u00a0 by far the largest continent; \u00a0all three have hot climates;\u00a0 and all three have abundant street dogs,\u00a0 mostly tolerated but problematic, \u00a0and sometimes dangerous due to endemic rabies.<\/p>\n World Veterinary Services founder Luke Gamble with dog netted for vaccination.<\/strong><\/em> All three places also have long had anti-rabies vaccination programs,\u00a0 but vaccinating street dogs against rabies,\u00a0 while effective when done in a sustained,\u00a0 systematic manner,\u00a0 does not address the underlying problem of too many dogs at large,\u00a0 outbreeding any and all rabies control efforts,\u00a0 from vaccinating dogs to just poisoning or shooting as many as possible,\u00a0 an approach which has historically always been a colossal failure.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sri Lanka has had many localized spay\/neuter programs over the years,\u00a0 but none effectively covering the whole island,\u00a0 comparable in size to the state of West Virginia.<\/p>\n Turkey from 2004 until mid 2024 had a governmentally subsidized national spay\/neuter program,\u00a0 but the underfunded and often poorly managed program often faltered,\u00a0 especially in the hinterlands like Hatay,\u00a0 far from Istanbul.<\/p>\n Istanbul and suburbs,\u00a0 culturally more like Europe than the Middle East, \u00a0together include about 20% of the Turkish population,\u00a0 and hold more like half the nation\u2019s wealth.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The rural remainder of Turkey,\u00a0 including Ankara,\u00a0 the national capital,\u00a0 are culturally Middle Eastern,\u00a0 and economically struggling.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (See <\/em><\/strong>Fighting 2004 no-kill law, Turkish prime minister Erdogan runs for dogcatcher<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Soi Dog Foundation is only a year into the first major attempt to introduce spay\/neuter to Vietnam.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (See <\/em><\/strong>Soi Dog Foundation in 2024 helped Vietnam to cut rabies deaths by 20%<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Sri Lanka,\u00a0 unlike Turkey and Vietnam,\u00a0 also has Champa Fernando,\u00a0 managing secretary for KACPAW,\u00a0 the leading nonprofit humane society on the island.<\/p>\n Champa Fernando. (Facebook photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Fernando since 1998 has worked to demonstrate four key points to public officials:<\/p>\n (See <\/em><\/strong>Sri Lankan government shelter became the disaster predicted<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n (See Depo Provera: found deadly to dogs in 1960 & still not safe for street use<\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n (Champa Fernando photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe managed to convince the authorities in Trincomalee District\u00a0to convert the government dog shelter at Konesapuri into a transit home for sterilization, \u00a0rabies vaccination, \u00a0and release,\u201d Fernando exulted in a Valentine\u2019s Day 2025 Facebook message to ANIMALS 24-7<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The Konesapuri shelter,\u00a0 Fernando mentioned,\u00a0 was \u201cset up by the previous government at a cost of eight million rupees ($27,150 U.S. dollars),\u00a0 and is now incurring a running cost of several hundred thousand rupees [per year] on something unmanageable,\u00a0 inhumane, and \u00a0unproductive.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hope to suggest to the authorities to develop this facility, \u00a0built on one acre of land, \u00a0into a government veterinary hospital,\u201d\u00a0 Fernando said.<\/p>\n Meanwhile,\u00a0 Fernando continued,\u00a0 \u201cKACPAW promised to initiate the catch,\u00a0 neuter,\u00a0 vaccinate,\u00a0 and release project by spaying 300 to 500 dogs, \u00a0both unowned and owned.<\/p>\n (Champa Fernando photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis may be a start,\u201d\u00a0 Fernando hoped, \u00a0\u201cto countrywide catch,\u00a0 neuter,\u00a0 vaccinate,\u00a0 and release, \u00a0and to putting a stop to any ideas of setting up government dog shelters again.<\/p>\n \u201cOurs is a huge undertaking. We hope to do the mass spay clinics in early March 2025,\u201d\u00a0 Fernando wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are seeking our supporters\u2019 help to fund spaying at [$17 U.S. dollars] per dog which includes surgery, \u00a0transport to and from from our Kandy clinic and within Trincomalee,\u201d\u00a0 along with dog catching labor, \u00a0mange treatment, \u00a0treatment for any other veterinary issues,\u00a0 \u201cdog chains, collars,\u00a0 post-operative care as needed,\u00a0 dog food,\u00a0 and incidental,\u201d\u00a0 Fernando listed.<\/p>\n [KACPAW welcomes donations at https:\/\/kacpaw.org\/donations\/<\/a>.]<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Turkey on July 30,\u00a0 2024 replaced the national street dog sterilization program with a law requiring that stray dogs be impounded,\u00a0 be kept in shelters,\u00a0 be offered for adoption,\u00a0 and if not adopted,\u00a0 be euthanized if aggressive or showing symptoms of untreatable disease.<\/p>\n Turkish Veterinary Medical Association president G\u00fclay Ert\u00fcrk explained to Veterinary Information Network News<\/em> correspondent \u00d6zg\u00fcr \u00d6\u011fret in October 2024 that killing healthy dogs who pose no danger to humans is still illegal in Turkey.<\/p>\n But Turkey has from 2.7 million to four million street dogs,\u00a0 Ert\u00fcrk told \u00d6\u011fret, \u00a0while the 322 dog pounds have a maximum capacity of only about 105,000 dogs.<\/p>\n \u201cSince the new law went into effect,\u201d\u00a0 \u00d6\u011fret wrote,\u00a0 \u201creports have surfaced of strays being killed systematically.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAuthorities in the municipalities of Ni\u011fde in central Turkey and Alt\u0131nda\u011f in the capital Ankara, \u00a0for instance, \u00a0are investigating two animal shelters after large numbers of dead dogs and even cats were found either buried or lying uncovered on their properties.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth shelters have denied accusations of criminal conduct,\u201d\u00a0 \u00d6\u011fret summarized, \u00a0\u201cmaintaining the animals were killed either in accordance with the new law or, in the case of the Ni\u011fde shelter, \u00a0brought there dead because it has an animal cemetery.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Turkey\u2019s west,\u201d\u00a0 \u00d6\u011fret added,\u00a0 \u201cthe bodies of about a dozen dogs were reportedly found in sacks at a garbage dump. \u00a0Separately, \u00a0three dead dogs found beside a highway reportedly were suspected to have been killed by some form of injection since syringes were found stuck in their bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n Concluded \u00d6\u011fret,\u00a0 \u201cErt\u00fcrk and other veterinarians are pinning hopes on efforts launched in August by Turkey\u2019s main opposition party to persuade the country\u2019s Constitutional Court to revoke the law. Municipalities controlled by opposition parties, \u00a0she notes, \u00a0aren\u2019t aggressively collecting stray dogs as they await the high court\u2019s decision.\u201d<\/p>\n This appears to be where the situation remains,\u00a0 while sporadic rabies outbreaks continue,\u00a0 including in the K\u0131r\u0131khan district of Hatay in early January 2025.<\/p>\nThree very different parts of Asia,\u00a0 but only one effective solution to ubiquitous street dogs<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
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(Mission Rabies photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nVaccination alone does not fix the street dog problem<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nWhat has already been done?<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nChampa Fernando<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nPilot project<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cThis may be a start,\u201d\u00a0 with help<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nTurkey replaces s\/n with impoundment<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nDog massacres<\/h2>\n