THE Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) thanks Mr Benjamin Ng for his feedback that "the survey might have shown more support for culling monkeys if it had focused on areas where there are many of the animals" ("Acres survey finds little support for animal culling"; Tuesday).
The main aim of the survey was to get a sense of what the current ground sentiments are on a variety of animal protection issues, and also at a national level. Random respondents participated in the survey, as we wanted to ensure that it was unbiased, scientific and independent.
While the general perception is that people not affected by the macaques are not going to support culling them, the strongest support Acres received is actually from people living near the nature reserves, and they are the strongest advocates against culling the animals.
Acres is working with a number of condominiums bordering the nature reserves on alternatives that do not involve culling.
While the survey shows that only a minority of Singaporeans support culling, Acres is by no means saying that we should ignore the concerns of the minority.
We agree that there are issues with regard to stray dogs, macaques and wild boars, but the main opposition here is using culling as a solution.
There are several humane and more long-term alternatives available to address the root of the concerns raised and we hope we can work closely with the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) to trial and assess the effectiveness of these alternatives instead.
Lastly, while it was reported that complaints have dropped after 570 macaques were killed in 2013, this would not be an accurate and scientifically valid statement ("Monkey complaints fall by over half after a third of them culled"; Wednesday).
As far as we know, no study has been conducted to determine if there is a correlation between the number of animals killed and the number of complaints received.
Mr Ng also stated in the article that the situation improved last year after monkey-proof bins were placed in the neighbourhood and people stopped feeding the monkeys.
Last year, Acres also responded to macaque-related feedback from the public and advised residents on humane alternatives.
Louis Ng
Chief Executive
Animal Concerns Research and Education Society
The main aim of the survey was to get a sense of what the current ground sentiments are on a variety of animal protection issues, and also at a national level. Random respondents participated in the survey, as we wanted to ensure that it was unbiased, scientific and independent.
While the general perception is that people not affected by the macaques are not going to support culling them, the strongest support Acres received is actually from people living near the nature reserves, and they are the strongest advocates against culling the animals.
Acres is working with a number of condominiums bordering the nature reserves on alternatives that do not involve culling.
While the survey shows that only a minority of Singaporeans support culling, Acres is by no means saying that we should ignore the concerns of the minority.
We agree that there are issues with regard to stray dogs, macaques and wild boars, but the main opposition here is using culling as a solution.
There are several humane and more long-term alternatives available to address the root of the concerns raised and we hope we can work closely with the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) to trial and assess the effectiveness of these alternatives instead.
Lastly, while it was reported that complaints have dropped after 570 macaques were killed in 2013, this would not be an accurate and scientifically valid statement ("Monkey complaints fall by over half after a third of them culled"; Wednesday).
As far as we know, no study has been conducted to determine if there is a correlation between the number of animals killed and the number of complaints received.
Mr Ng also stated in the article that the situation improved last year after monkey-proof bins were placed in the neighbourhood and people stopped feeding the monkeys.
Last year, Acres also responded to macaque-related feedback from the public and advised residents on humane alternatives.
Louis Ng
Chief Executive
Animal Concerns Research and Education Society
