Animal population workshop for stray handlers Aug 2-4

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Rebecca (right) shaking hands with Grand Margherita Hotel and Riverside Majestic Hotel Business Development manager Pauline Chong. At left is SSPCA committee member Gracie Geikie.

Rebecca (right) shaking hands with Grand Margherita Hotel and Riverside Majestic Hotel Business Development manager Pauline Chong. At left is SSPCA committee member Gracie Geikie.

KUCHING: A training workshop on animal population management organised by the Sarawak Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) will be held from Aug 2 to 4 at Grand Margherita Hotel here.

SSPCA chairperson Rebecca D’Cruz said the workshop is a follow-up of the Asia for Animals (AFA) Borneo 2015 held here in October last year and the main topics to be discussed are “Rabies Prevention and Control” and “Humane Animal Population Management”.

She said a half-day hands-on training workshop on ‘Humane Capture of Dogs’ will be conducted by expert trainers from Mission Rabies India. The training is specially targeted at those responsible for the capture and handling of stray dogs.

“Many criticisms from the public have been reported in the local press about the way stray animals are captured by some local councils across Malaysia,” she said at a press conference yesterday.

She added that the training session thus aims to provide local council staff with the proper skills to capture stray dogs in a humane manner.

Other targeted audience for this workshop are local government staff and animal welfare practitioners across Sarawak and Malaysia, animal welfare practitioners from the neighbouring countries like Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, and also those who had attended the AfA Borneo 2015.

Rebecca said the training exercise aims to limit number of participants to 150 people so that all can be actively and fully engaged in the programme.

She said the workshop will also give training on the use of animal population management tools, dog population management, rabies prevention.

She said another matter to be looked into is the creation of a network of animal population management practitioners across participating countries so as to learn from one another’s experience.

The workshop will be led by four expert trainers Dr Katherine Polak from the USA, Dr Ganga de Silva (Sri Lanka), Praveen Ohal (India) and Harry Eckman (England).

Registration fee for the workshop is RM800 per person for Malaysians and USD250 per person for foreign participants. The fee is inclusive of workshop materials, refreshments and luncheons and a welcome dinner.

Information on the workshop can be accessed at http://www.placeborneo.com/index.php/events-home2/sspca-apm-16

For more details, contact Traci Tay at [email protected] or call 082-250400.