| SNIP International News Page | |
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SNIP International
Newsletter |
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| Report on the 2011 ICAW Conference in Riga, Latvia - read the report here. | |
| SNIP International 2011 Newsletter now available - click here | |
| The SNIP International 15th Anniversary Dossier is now available for download - click here. It gives an insight into how SNIP International is making a difference to animal welfare charities all over the world. | |
| SNIP International Reception Celebrates Training Initiative London June 10th 2009 - more |
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| Animal Welfare Training Workshops Funded by SNIP International We've helped The Kismet Account hold two training workshops in Istanbul and Budapest - to read their illustrated report, click here ... and see more here. This report requires Adobe reader - see above. |
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| The 10th ICAW Conference was held in Stresa, Italy from 29th to 31st October 2008 - to read a full report in Adobe Reader (pdf) format, click here |
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| Report on The 9th ICAW Conference in Berlin October 2007 ... (more) This report requires Adobe reader - see above. |
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| Report
On Tokyo IAHAIO Conference by Jenny Remfry Tokyo, Japan, 5th October - 8th October 2007.... (more) |
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| Report on The 8th ICAW Conference Ljubljana, Slovenia 25-27 October 2006 ... (more) |
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| International Animal Welfare Conference - Riga, Latvia 18-20 October 2011 | |
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| Snip International Reception in London | |
  On 10 June there was a very successful Reception at the offices of DogsTrust in central London. Over 50 people attended, including SNIP International Friends and Trustees, and DogsTrust Trustees, despite the underground strike which severely affected transport.Ian Macfarlaine, VN, National Neutering Manager for Cats Protection and the Co-ordinator of the Kismet Account, spoke about the intensive training programmes he has conducted for vets and helpers, including trappers, in seven countries, with more visits planned. SNIP International was one of the UK based animal welfare organisations which had supported the visits, in the case of SNIP International by donating specialist catching/ trapping equipment. One of Ian's visits was to Lithuania; Brigita Kymantiate, founder of PIFAS, an animal welfare organisation working in Lithuania, spoke of the impact of the visit on attitudes and practices in her native country. There was also a map showing the 40 countries to which SNIP International has donated equipment; and information about the statistics available on the effect of introducing neutering programmes. |
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| Animal Welfare Training Workshops Funded by SNIP International The local press and TV seem to have enjoyed themselves, and the workshops got good coverage.  |
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| Report on The 9th ICAW Conference in Berlin | |
  SNIP International took an active part in the 9th ICAW Conference, held at the Maritim Hotel, Berlin at the end of October 2007. For a full report in PDF format on our part in the conference, click here.For information on the conference as a whole from the ICAWC web site, for more information on the ICAWC itself, and for the dates of the 10th Conference later this year, click here. |
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| Report On Tokyo Conference by Jenny Remfry | |
 1,500 people registered for the 11th IAHAIO Conference in Tokyo in October 2007. One thousand of these were Japanese. This reflects a growing interest in pet animals in Japan, and the large number of young people now training for work in pet-related careers such as veterinary nursing, dog training and animal-assisted therapy.
There is an acknowledged problem with street cats. Many of them are strays rather ferals, and are sometimes referred to as community cats. There is a large army of cat feeders, but they are opposed by home owners who object to the smell and toileting of the cats around their properties and try to deter them by putting empty bottles in their gardens. People wanting to set up trap-neuter-return programmes must register with the local authority. I heard of three such programmes: one in a suburb of Tokyo started by Katori Shoko which has attracted government funding, one in Yokohama started by Dr Chizuko Yamaguchi of JAWS along British lines, and one in Kobe run by Hiro Yamasaki. He runs the Animal Rescue System Fund. This is supported by organisations in the USA and follows their pattern of dedicated neutering clinics. His vets use the method of surgery taught by Dr Mackie in California, and they put a V-shaped notch in the ear instead of removing the tip. Mr Yamasaki uses a good, lightweight trap manufactured in Japan, that is set off by the cat pulling on the bait rather than treading on a plate. These programmes are all struggling. The reasons for this seem to be: • Lack of volunteers • A reluctance amongst owners to neuter their cats • High veterinary fees for neutering • Lack of cat welfare societies • Lack of shelters At the conference, the Workshop on Feral Cats – Problems and Solutions – was attended by over 60 people. The group leader was Dr Penny Bernstein from Ohio, who set the scene by discussing cat behaviour and degrees of domestication. She also read the paper of Margaret Slater, who was unable to attend. This outlined the situation in the USA and the success of some TNR programmes, but emphasised the importance of dealing with the problem of feral cats at source, by encouraging the bond between cats and their owners so that they are less likely to stray. Bob Kerridge of the Aukland SPCA, New Zealand, described the steps taken in his country to control stray and feral cats, including TNR programmes. They use different definitions from us, considering any cat living free in an urban setting as “stray”, and only those living free in rural settings as “feral”. This is important because “feral” cats are classified as pests and can be killed, whereas “strays” must be cared for, either in their colony or by being taken to a shelter for re-homing or euthanasia. People who feed colony cats and trap them for neutering become their legal owners and are obliged to microchip and register them. There is an organization in New Zealand called The Lonely Miaow that opposes TNR, on the grounds that a free-living cat cannot be a happy cat. Let us hope that he comes round, as so many of the SPCAs in the USA have done. There were some Australians in the audience, sympathetic to cats, who told us that TNR is illegal in the State of Victoria, because of the perceived risk to indigenous wildlife. Enlightened people realise that this is nonsense, and that wildlife is retreating because of the human activity involved in developing land for housing. In my paper I outlined the history of TNR in the UK and how it had spread round the world thanks to UFAW, SPANA, the Kismet Account and SNIP International. I demonstrated the new MDC Eezicatch trap and explained how it is used in conjunction with a trap-transfer-restraint cage. This created great interest. In the discussion session that followed, I was asked why it happens that in the UK, with its great tradition of animal welfare, some cats are still abandoned. Of course, there are people who abandon their cats, but in my personal experience it is the cats that abandon their owners rather than the other way round! The literature I took with me was taken up very quickly. When I asked who could make good use of the equipment, the young women crowding round looked doubtful, obviously taking to heart my warnings that setting up a successful TNR programme needs time and effort. I gave it to Dr Hajime Sugimura, who is the President of his local Veterinary Association on an island off Kobe. He came to the workshop because he is trying to interest his fellow vets in the growing problem of feral cats on the island. His English is not very good but the Ark representative in Tokyo, Briar Simpson, is keeping in touch with him. She will urge him to send us a report, and will translate it for us if necessary. I hope that the interest shown in the workshop will convince the organisers of the next IAHAIO conference that feral cats should be included in the programme. Back to top  After the conference, I took the bullet train to Kobe, where Elizabeth Oliver
kindly met me and, after we had visited Hiro Yamasaki, took me to see her
shelter in the hills above Kyoto.Although it is rather remote, Elizabeth has plenty of mostly young people living in special accommodation and looking after the 300 dogs and 200 cats to a high standard. There are also volunteers who come to walk the dogs. The animals are friendly and there is a good re-homing record. There is a steady demand for cats from the embassies in Tokyo. |
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| The 8th International Companion Animal Welfare Conference | |
This took place
in Ljubljana, Slovenia from the 25th to the 27th of October 2006, and
SNIP International was represented. The conference was attended by
175 delegates representing 66 groups from 27 countries. Five countries – Bulgaria,
Croatia, Cyprus, Republic of Ireland and Slovenia – are new
in terms of equipment donations. |
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| The hotel asked us to help
with a small colony of cats living behind the hotel which were being
fed by some of the delegates during the conference… We put the hotel staff in touch with the two local groups which had received equipment during the conference, so hopefully some of the donated equipment was pressed into immediate use. Luke Gamble, Managing Director of Worldwide Veterinary Service which provides veterinary teams, medications and veterinary advice to groups working overseas, and whose organisation works alongside SNIP International, gave another well received presentation on the difficult decisions facing those who work overseas.  Ian
MacFarlaine is a very experienced cat trapperand co-author of a new manual
on the management of feral cats. He is also Director of Portugal Animal Welfare,
UK, which used to be known as The Kismet Account and is one of the UK based
groups that have benefited from SNIP International’s policy of equipment
donation. Ian gave a well-attended seminar on feral cat control. One has to
travel half way round the globe to catch up with these busy individuals!The proceedings were rounded off by a passionate speech from Heather Mills about her work for people and animals across the world. She recently launched a new campaign to stop the inhumane international trade in cat and dog fur, especially in the form of pelts from China, by bringing the practice to the attention of the European Parliament in March 2005 and the world’s media in September 2005. Back to top |
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SNIP International had a strong presence at the 13th ICAW Conference held in Riga.
The
recipient groups are based in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France,
Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, the Republic of Ireland, Romania,
Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka and Turkey.