Latest on Samoan Dog Situation

This just in.......

On a recent tour of duty 10 of 16 British medical students were attacked by packs of dogs-all required medical attention for bloody wounds to arms, legs, hands, torsos and worse.

Sounds almost too bad to be true even for Samoa, but in case it is, you should add it to islandboi's Samoa warnings thread linked in my signo line.

The Samoa Observer's recent report on the "vicious dog problem"

Dont the dogs attack locals? Why isnt more done about them?

I live in Samoa for 10 years now and I have not been attacked once. Neither have anyone of my guests I guide around. But I never go out in the evening without carrying stones and a stick - just in case. And I advise my guests to avoid certain areas in the evening. It helps a lot what one knows about dogs and their behaviour.
Authorities regularly go and shoot straying dogs in town. But the week after it looks all the same as new dogs migrate in to the then vacant territory. The Animal Protection Society offers de-sexing of dogs, but this hardly attracts those who neglect their dogs anyway.
Dogs are not pets in Samoa, hardly anyone cares much about them.

This doesn't surprise me at all, having been attacked by dogs in Apia (Samoa's capital) myself.

I always carried a stick, or a few largish pebbles in my pocket to discourage this.

Locals would have higher priorities for spending their money than on vet bills, assuming there are any in Samoa to start with.

Just back yesterday from our latest trip to Samoa.
Had no problem with dogs and have not had any problems with them previously either even though we do occasionally walk in the neighborhoods of Apia after dark.
The only dog problem this time was the dead one that had been thrown over the sea wall just opposte the new Police building on Beach road.
The stench got so bad we eventually had to skip going in that direction for dinner, but wksamoa we did find that Chopsticks restaurant is still open when we went looking for a meal after turning right out of Aggie's instead of left.
Their sign has just faded away completely and they dont have an open hours sign either.
Still great and cheap food at Chopsticks.
We passed on an icecream at Scoops who advertise on TV as "Scoops, Ice Cream and Delights" after last trip seeing one of the locals pick something out of her nose, closely inspect it and then flick it away to land in the mint ice cream that I was just about to order. I figured that must be one of the "delights".
We had our icecreams at Green Turtle instead where they pick up the cones with the hand that has just been handling money and then carefully wrap the cone in a tissue while they fill it.
My wife did get a case of tummy trouble at the new Aggie's and inquiring around found she was not the only one.
Once again we have survived another enjoyable visit to Samoa and I am sure we will be back, dogs and poor food hygiene and all.

#3 is right. Samoans don't consider dogs and cats as pets. Too bad, a healthy cat would take care of the rats.

I am a dog lover and have had many dogs in my life, including a great old Staffordshire,
but I am very wary of dogs in Samoa. I have heard many horror stories, and have talked to Samoans who have been bitten.
I carried stones and an "automatic" umbrella (which was also good for those frequent showers) , got taxis at dusk and kept my distance from dogs I would normally let approach me in other countries.
I grew up in what was a "third world country" and we had dogs, some of whom bit of course but none as viciously as the Samoan dogs, but then dogs in my country were generally treated as one of the family.
It must be a pack mentality combined with fear biting.

That doesn't surprise me at all. After a year and a half of living in American Samoa, I am continually horrified by the dog situation and am shocked by how little Samoans seem to care. There is currently a team down with the Humane Society, but their short-term service seems to do little good. From my experience, Samoans tend to keep dogs as protection, but often don't feed them or tie them up. I have also noticed that the dogs that are well kept by a family tend to be more territorial and willing to violently defend that territory. True strays that don't have an owner may growl, but they are generally too afraid of people to really attack. The situation becomes worse when the dogs start running in packs. There are currently two packs forming on either side of my apartment building and are 2-10 strays in the parking lot at any one time. I don't walk anywhere. I'm guessing that part of the reason dogs are not too much of a concern is the fact that there is no rabies in Samoa. Nothing will take care of a stray dog problem faster than the threat of a lethal disease that is spread quickly and easily.

Just my two cents....

#5: reading your post I found it strange how you suddenly shifted the subject from dead dog to Chinese restaurant.

I suspect that the dog situation is endemic to many places in the Pacific. I couldn't let my kids walk up the street 3 houses to play with friends because of the dogs in Pohnpei. Mind you, the dogs were generally treated very badly, and yes, also served as food. But as sympathetic as I was to them because of their bad, treatment, we had to go with sticks and stones to avoid being attacked.

5Waldos,

Have never experienced dogs like those in Apia anywhere else in the South Pacific. Sadly, I've only been as far as Kiribati in the North Pacific - so can't comment.

Bendejo has raised an interesting idea re: canine cuisine. I reckon the best place for these dogs is in the umu.

That said, I did try dog once in Vietnam and wouldn't particularly recommend it - was a bit too tough and gamey for my liking. If slow roasted umu pork is anything to go by, this could be the perfect solution to Samoa's problem de chien.

Interesting suggestion -:) The same was said about those African Snails which pested the islands some years ago. It didn't work either. BTW Samoans not only do not eat dogs, they do not eat ducks as well (the Peking Duck is a chicken unless you order a real duck weeks before). Horses too are not regarded edible.

#12 that's interesting. The Rarotongans eat dogs - wonder why the Samoans don't. And why not ducks? Always interesting to know how dietary preferences or taboos develop.

If the dogs in Samoa are worse than some of the nasties we encountered in Micronesia, it does not make me want to rush over to visit. Nastiest dog I ever met was caged in Nepal- even walking by the snarling horror scared us to death. But that was one, and seriously caged. Dogs have big teeth.