RSPCA International always has a full agenda within the society sector. Legislation is only as good as its enforcement and we work to improve enforcement where legislation exists and to advise on legislative development where it does not. We have been involved in the drafting of China’s first general animal protection law, published in 2009, and we have recently run law enforcement training in all our key regions. We are continuing with long-term animal welfare education projects in East Asia and are also working to implement OIE standards on shelter management and humane dog handling and catching through all our programmes.

 

1st International Conference on Dog Population Management

Humane, effective and sustainable dog population management (DPM) is a challenge increasingly faced all around the world. Dogs play an important role as companion and work animals but are also a major source of concern for zoonoses transmission and attacks on people and livestock. The Food and Environment Research Agency is hosting the 1st International Conference on Dog Population Management, September 4-8, 2012 inYork. Please visit the website and pass the address to interested colleagues:www.dogpopulationmanagement2012.co.uk 

 

Brian Faulkner delivering training in Istanbul © RSPCA International

Developing shelter standards in Turkey

In January 2012, RSPCA International delivered dog population and shelter management training in Istanbul to around 100 vets, government officials and shelter managers, alongside visits to a variety of shelters in Ankara and Izmir, where we ran training in 2010.

Earlier training in Istanbul in late 2011 with the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality focused on improving routines and protocols within the three shelters that serve the city of Istanbul, including a new EU-funded facility. We were able to train all the shelter workers at these sites and the shelters within the Istanbul metropolitan municipality should all be working to more standardised routines as a result.

Improving law enforcement in Africa

Group photo from Malawi police training © RSPCA International

In March 2011, we worked in partnership with Lilongwe SPCA to run several groundbreaking training events in Malawi.

Police commissioners, prosecutors and chief magistrates from across Malawi met in Lilongwe to attend training on the importance of animal protection legislation, and strategies for better enforcement. All the participants should now be conversant with the legislation and as a result, incidences of animal cruelty such as poor transportation and the roadside selling of puppies and kittens should be reduced. Police Commissioner Dzonzi, on behalf of the Inspector General, opened the course.
 

© The Guardian (Malawi) published with the kind permission of the editor, Mr Bakali Maulidi

A second course brought police station managers and prosecutors from all the main cities in Malawi together, improving knowledge of what constitutes animal suffering and when to prosecute. The training included detailed discussions on the legislation and the powers of the police and courts in animal cruelty cases, how to collect evidence in animal cruelty cases including accurate photos and videos, witness statements and assessments of the health of the animal.

Read more about our work and that of the Worldwide Veterinary Service in Malawi courtesy of the Veterinary Times. This article first appeared in the Veterinary Times, Issue 40-14, 12 April 2010.

Welfare Malawi page 26 (Veterinary Times 2010) (PDF 7.53 MB)
Welfare Malawi page 28 (Veterinary Times 2010) (PDF 5.86 MB)
Welfare Malawi page 30 (Veterinary Times 2010) (PDF 3.35 MB) 

 
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