Stray dogs are being rounded up in Nuku'alofa this week, ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting here at the end of August.

Assisted by Tonga Police and volunteers, a team of vets from Animal Fiji has commenced a “Trap Neuter & Return” program around the designated hotel accommodation and conference areas.

The Tonga Animal Welfare Society (TAWS) is providing volunteer support to assist this collaborative initiative, where government, private business and NGOs are working together to effect positive change for the community, tourists and dogs.

The focus will be on dogs roaming or living on the streets. 

TAWS stated, “The purpose of this program is to neuter the dogs in an effort to make the dogs less aggressive, less likely to roam or fight. If you live in these areas and your dog roams, your dog may be a beneficiary of this program. All neutered dogs will receive an ear tattoo and a collar.”

The co-founder of Animal Fiji, Casey Quimby said that over the next five days they will assist with the project in selected areas.

“There's only five days, so we're going to try our best to hit three of those five locations” she said.

Over 10 dogs were successfully neutered today the vets are assisted by volunteers, and two Tonga police officers with a truck.

Casey pointed to a dog and said that it was not homeless. “These are like community dogs, you feed them today and I feed them tomorrow and they’ll go to the Chinese shop or restaurant to find food later.”   

“That guy's owned. A family has been feeding him, but they don't claim he's their dog, but he was inside their house.” She said that this attitude was also found in other countries.

After the operation, the dogs are tagged with an ear tattoo and a collar.

The team of vets arrived on 3 August and will return to Fiji on Saturday

The project ‘Inaugural Humane Dog Location Management Program' is a Tongan Government project, funded by the Australian Aid through DFAT. It is supported by TAWS, Tonga Police, MAFFF and the Tanoa Hotel.