Africa-Press – Mauritius. The Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Mr Teeruthraj Hurdoyal, effected, yesterday, a site visit at the Mauritius Society for Animal Welfare (MSAW), in Plaine Magnien.
The aim was to meet stakeholders of the industry in order to discuss matters concerning animal welfare and the celebrations of World Animal Day. The Chairman of the MSAW Council, Mr Didier Pursun, the Director of the MSAW, Mr Julien Georges, and Officers of the Ministry were also present on this occasion.
In a statement, Minister Hurdoyal highlighted that he intends to visit all the MSAW facilities around the island to assess how stray dogs are being care for.
He expressed satisfaction as regards the way employees, who have the required training, treat the animals at the shelter, while stressing that all international protocols are observed.
Despite being impressed by the MSAW’s infrastructure at Plaine Magnien, the Minister underlined that additional measures will nonetheless have to be taken so as to improve MSAW’s infrastructure and decrease the population of stray dogs around the island.
He also appealed to the population to take advantage of the scheme whereby they can deduct up to Rs 10 000 from their income tax by adopting a stray dog from the MSAW.
Almost all the dogs are microchipped, thus ensuring their traceability once adopted, he stated. Speaking about the commemoration of World Animal Day on 04 October, the Agro-Industry Minister indicated that the event will be held in Flacq.
He seized this opportunity to encourage all dog owners to come and register and equip their pets with microchips free of charge on that day. Moreover, Minister Hurdoyal pointed out that sterilisation campaigns will be carried out all around the island to ensure a better control over stray dogs, especially on beaches.
The Ministry is working in collaboration with the MSAW and other authorities so as to come up with solutions to tackle this problem, he reassured. As for Mr Georges, he informed that the site visit was an opportunity to showcase the initiatives undertaken by the MSAW with regard to the welfare of stray dogs.
He further recalled that the ‘Catch, Neuter, Release’ programme aiming to decrease the number of stray dogs around the island was launched some time back.
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