Save Our Street Dogs (SoSD) is a volunteer-run animal welfare organization that focuses primarily on feral, stray dogs in Singapore. In the 10 years since its inception, SoSD has rescued and rehomed over 1,900 dogs.
SoSD’s work has three areas of focus:
Advocate and Educate – SoSD actively advocates against the culling and mistreatment of strays, seeks to educate the public on culturally common misconceptions regarding mixed-breed dogs, and ultimately works to integrate these dogs into the human community giving street dogs a chance in life.
Rescue and Rehome – SoSD brings as many dogs and puppies into their care as they can. They currently rent shelter space to house their dogs in a purpose-built facility run by Singapore’s National Parks Board. They also have a network of foster homes.
Sterilization for Humane Population Control – SoSD runs a successful TNR program to humanely sterilize feral dogs and they are vocal advocates for the implementation of a nationwide sterilization program for Singapore’s street dogs.
Their ultimate goal is to have a sheltering facility designed and built to meet their needs, but in the meantime, they have made amazing improvements, such as free roaming time, visual control panels on the fronts of kennels, and using fans for cooling, and as a source of white noise for some degree acoustic control. They are also in the process of testing out other ways to provide their dogs with enrichment such as play, exposure to music, clicker training, and cohousing social dogs.
Recently, Animal Arts has been consulting with SoSD on low-cost ways to improve the shelter environment and provide even more enrichment for the dogs, including, noise reduction solutions, such as locally sourcing acoustic panels to install on the interior of the rehabilitation unit, and suggesting easily accessible equipment changes, such as better, quieter fans.
In addition to suggesting programmatic changes, such as introducing quiet time and providing visual enrichment, we were also able to connect SoSD to play group resources, to help further educate the staff and volunteers on handling and perhaps inspire new ways to enrich their rehabilitation program.
Organizations around the world are doing amazing work to help animals within their communities. What lessons can we learn from each other to continue to advance animal welfare and well-being?
Learn more about the wonderful work that SoSD is doing at their website https://sosd.org.sg/.
