Pets and Microchips in Singapore

A letter from ST forum today.


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Punish those who mistreat and abandon pets

		One of the four pedigree dogs found abandoned at a Pasir Ris carpark nearly two weeks ago. -- PHOTO: COURTESY OF IRENE LOW

I REFER to Monday's letter, 'Dog found dumped near rubbish bin'. The sad story of cruelty, neglect and abandonment of pet dogs is unfortunately a common one.

On the morning of May 29, four pedigree dogs were found together at a carpark of Pasir Ris Park. There were two female pugs, a female schnauzer and a male shih tzu. The breed of the male dog could not be determined with certainty as he had lost all his fur and, like the other three dogs, was covered with sores and in a foul-smelling, filthy, mangy condition.

All the dogs appeared to be un-neutered. The female dogs had sagging udders and must have suckled more than one litter of pups before. The dogs have received veterinary treatment for skin and other infections and are now being cared for at an animal shelter.

Although three of the dogs have microchips with serial numbers that were detected by a scanner, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) was unable to trace the owners as the dogs were not licensed with the authority.

I am writing this letter with the hope that there will be more public awareness of the pitiful plight of dogs abandoned by their owners.

This is also a call for more effective measures to trace and prosecute owners who mistreat their dogs and then abandon them cruelly and irresponsibly.

Irene Low (Ms)

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The key sentence in this letter is this

"Although three of the dogs have microchips with serial numbers that were detected by a scanner, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) was unable to trace the owners as the dogs were not licensed with the authority."

What this means is that AVA made it madatory for pet owners to microchip their pets, but did not make it madatory for veterinarians to register the details of the pet owners together with the microchip number with a central database. Either that or the Veterinarian who did the microchip failed to carry out his duties.

Major fail.

Roundworm of the dog

The roundworm of the dog, also known as Toxocara canis, is a common intestinal parasite found in dogs.

The life cycle of Toxocara canis goes like this:

1) Eggs, which may be found in cockroaches, rats, earthworms, are ingested

2) Lavae hatch and migrates through the intestinal wall and to the liver

3) Lavae then migrates to the lungs via the blood stream and is then coughed out and swallowed

4) Adults then develop in the intestines once again, laying eggs that are excreted

5) This cycle takes about 4-5 weeks to complete




However, most of the lavae actually end up encysted in muscles where they lay dormant instead of developing into adults in the small intestine. In the bitch, these encysted lavae become reactivated during late pregnancy and the fetuses are infected. The worms can also be transmitted to pups via milk. Worms transmitted to pups in this manner take 2 weeks to develop into adults and start producing eggs.

This has great significance on the treatment regime of pups. Infected pups require treatment with an appropriate anthelmintic (eg. Benzamindazoles, macrocyclic lactones, pyrantel) every 2 weeks starting from 2 weeks of age till they are weaned. The reason for this is due to the transmammary route of infection. Once they are weaned, treatment will need to me administered once a month till 6 months of age. The reason for this is that by 6 months of age, most of the lavae will be encysted in muscles, instead of completing their life cycle. Thereafter, treatment will only be required 2 - 4 times a year.

Toxocara canis also poses a zoonotic threat, especially to young children. The reason for this is two-fold: Children have poorer hygiene practices as well as a relatively immature immune system.

Toxocarasis in humans typically have 2 presentations:

1) Visceral lava migrans - lavae migrate to other organs in the body, causing signs and symptoms referable to where the lavae localise

2) Ocular lava migrans - lavae migrate into the eye

PS: This is what the adults look like


















And this is what the egg looks like. Note the L2 stage inside the egg on the right hand side.