Since ever Polynesians have had pets, some of them devoting them their whole life to the dertriment of their personnal comfort, others considering them as food resource. These two clashing attitudes contribute to complicate the situation management, it is difficult to find a management politic which don't inflame immediately opinions.

legislation on the subject is either old and obsolete, or maladjusted because conceived by and for the mother country, or nonexistent.

There is today no statistical élément on pets, either in the ITSTAT (Territorial Institute of Statistics) (numbers, distributions, etc.), the Police (accidents, poisonnings, etc…), the "Caisse de Prévoyance Sociale" (Social security) (injuries, diseases, etc…), or from the Territorial Tourism Service, as for private Insurance compagnies. This well shows at which point are local indifference and/or confusion.

There is thus to this day no real account taken for the dogs and cats population, by the whole society. It leads a disastrous overpopulation which endure since numerous decades, with its attenant sufferings : epidemics, accidents, starvations.

Many efforts, even so, have been leaded sporadically since long and by all the Polynesian actors, in the aim to attempt to manage the pets impact in the social life. Today nothing is left of these meritorious efforts, and actions presently taken by one or other are locked out or without real effect on long-lasting.

The Polynesian population global number increasing continuously (human population increased of 16 % between 1988 and 1996, and nothing let think this progress had decreased), irresponsible behaviours aren't sharply targetted against, people have no reason to change their attitude toward animals, their impact thus can only grow, the situation to deteriorate with time.

This question embarrass everyone , from individuals who don't know how solve their problems, to public institutions which don't know how to help, organise and coordinate their own efforts (Ministries, Town municipality, Police, Gendarmerie, Social Services), including associations trying to alleviate the problem, the wideness of which overflooding considerably as is, without means and recognised competences.

The corrolary of this collective resignation is that the human population, including good-willings are all caught unaware when facing the problem, by lack of information and basic know-how.

The situation is so hurting that any normally constituted being can't psychically stay in close contact with the fields for long without suffer consequencies. Most good-willing ones give up after few month.

This situation today appears to us to be due to a lack of general work context, because good-willing are numerous enough in all parts to work out solutions.

The elements we have are comming from our action and our contacts with the others intervening (vets, associations, police, firemen, individuals).

Dogs and cats can be ordered into categories :

• Having a responsible owner Fortunately this is the general case, they are the "at-home" Pets.
• Stray or Abandonned They are the main of "street Pets", they have an owner, they are free to wander as they want.
• "District Pets" They have no attributed owner but they are feeded by numerous families and remain in a well defined district.
• Ferrals They don't have owners, nor numerous contacts with humans, they flee by fear.
• Wilds They are born in Nature and remain in. They are rarely directly seen by human and are thus infectious pools.

It would be a serious political and cultural error to not take in account the very Polynesian notion of "District Pet". This specificity is shared with only few other countries and is rarely integrated in classic shemes comming from outside.

The Animals Number by home can take immoderate proportions, including good-willing ones, compared to the space the home can offer (week-end met up to more than thirty within 45 square meters).

Fenced houses are not the main case and seems more devoted to the well-to-do population , but, here too, statistical data are missing.

Today, in French Polynesia, the neutering of a bitch costs 30.000 F cfp (# 290.00 $), for a she-cat it is 16.700 F cfp (# 170.00 $). The brut mensual Index-linked Garanteed Minimum Wage was 90.430 F cfp (# 890.00 $) in 1997. The average number of Pets by family is upper than one and there is not a pay for all in.
These too expensive costs are the first complain we receive from field works : Among spay/neuter female dogs and/or cats and purchase something to feed the children, the question is irrelevant. People is aware, but feels powerless.

Educational lack is flagrant about basical hygiene, contagious (parasitical or viral) diseases watch out, Civil Liability, Feeding, minimum Health cares, and mistreatments. This being worth as much for those who love their pets as much for those who use (guarding, hunting, struggle against rodents, etc...) or eat them (some local vets estimate that, in the Tuamotu Archipelago, a dog on two is maintained for this purpose). The general education work to make is of a wide scope.

3. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS