Opening address by Minister Desmond Lee at the SOSD Charity Dinner

Aug 20, 2022

Dr Siew Tuck Wah, President, SOSD
Dr Yap Him Hoo, Director-General, Animal and Veterinary Service,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

A very good evening to everyone.

I am glad to be here at SOSD’s Charity Dinner.

SOSD has come a long way since its early days in 2011.

Over the past ten years, we have made significant strides in improving the welfare of our stray dogs, fondly known as Singapore Specials.

This is in part thanks to SOSD’s hard work and consistent efforts in improving the public’s perceptions of them.

In November 2018, we launched a five-year nation-wide Trap-Neuter-Release-Manage (TNRM) programme, a collaboration between the Animal & Veterinary Service, a cluster of NParks, Animal Welfare Groups, veterinarians, and other key stakeholders.

In fact, the idea came about in 2014, when we were on a work trip to Australia with what was then the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) and some animal welfare groups.

And we sketched out the TNRM idea on the back of a bus to the Royal SPCA – Dr Siew from SOSD was there, so was Ricky from ASD (Action for Singapore Dogs) and Mohan from ALL (Animal Lovers League), as well as Ms Tan Poh Hong from the then-AVA.

And in 2018 we managed to launch the programme.

The TNRM is a humane, science-based approach to manage the free-roaming dog population in Singapore.

Under this programme, NParks partners our stakeholders to trap and sterilise free-roaming dogs in a safe and humane way.

We then try our best to rehome the dogs, but if we are not able to do so, we return them to the environment.

I would like to thank SOSD for being a strong advocate and active partner of the TNRM programme.

In fact, SOSD was already carrying out Trap, Neuter and Release operations before the TNRM was launched.

Since November 2018, we have trapped and neutered more than 3,400 dogs, of which 500 were thanks to the efforts by SOSD. Of these, more than 1,600 of the dogs have been rehomed or fostered, including over 400 dogs rehomed by SOSD.

A key component of the TNRM programme has been Project ADORE, the Project for ADOption and REhoming of mixed breed dogs in HDB flats.

To-date, we have successfully rehomed more than 2,000 dogs under Project ADORE.

This achievement would not have been possible without the collective efforts and strong support from our animal welfare group partners, such as SOSD.

NParks is continually refining the programme. In June 2022, we announced that the larger size limits for rehoming Singapore Specials in HDB flats will be made permanent, and members of the public can now adopt retired K9 sniffer dogs.

With this, we hope that more of our Singapore Specials and K9 dogs can find the loving homes they deserve.

In the past two years, we have also made significant improvements in improving the animal health and welfare standards across the pet sector.

To raise industry standards, we enhanced the licensing conditions for pet boarders and breeders last year.

AVS also worked together with Animal Welfare Groups, vets and other stakeholders in the Rehoming and Adoption Workgroup to launch new guidelines to improve the rehoming, adoption and rehabilitation processes for our dogs earlier this year.

In addition, AVS has been organising regular Pets Day Out events, where the public can learn more about pet care, participate in adoption drives, and support our AWGs.

I would like to thank SOSD for being a strong supporter of AVS’ efforts over the years.

Your views and suggestions have helped us to refine our policies and programmes, as we work together to improve animal welfare in Singapore.

Most recently, AVS opened its Centre for Animal Rehabilitation, which conducts science-based canine rehabilitation programmes aimed at helping dogs integrate successfully into homes and the wider community.

Research on ethology and rehabilitation processes and techniques will be conducted at the Centre. AVS is working on a pilot rehabilitation partnership and will bring in more of our AWG partners such as SOSD as the programme develops.

This programme will help even more of our Singapore Specials find homes.

I look forward to exciting collaborations ahead.

Once again, I would like to thank SOSD for your significant contributions, as well as all of our volunteers and key stakeholders, including other Animal Welfare Groups, community animal caregivers and rescuers.

With your support, we can continue to improve animal welfare in Singapore.

With that, I wish you all a good evening ahead. Thank you.