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Paper short abstract:

By tracing the old and new imaginaries of human-dog relationships, shifting terrains of public housing policy, and the sciences of animal control, training, and care, this paper considers ideas of companionship and canine citizenship from the Singaporean context.

Paper long abstract:

Stray dogs in Singapore are called “Singapore Specials,” and their existence is predicated by a web of relationships that link institutions that oversee animal governance, public housing policy, and the shifting sciences and technologies of animal care. This paper shows how Singapore Specials, which are regarded as a distinct breed, are as much the outcome of genealogies of animal control and care as of biological reproduction. By tracing the old and new imaginaries of human-dog relationships, the paper considers ideas of companionship and canine citizenship from the Singaporean context.

When the first housing units were built in the 1960s, animals were not allowed, which resulted in mass abandonment. In the 1980s, the public housing board published a list of small-breed dogs that it allowed as pets, and the state followed a culling program as a way of controlling the stray dog population. It was only in recent times, with active campaigning by animal welfare groups, that the government allowed stray dogs in public housing–where over 80% of the city’s human population resides. The growing acceptance of strays hinges on the idea that they share a common identity as Singapore Specials, a breed with roots in the city. It is also the result of changing technologies of animal control, sciences of stray dog management, and the development of dog training as a scientific practice. The histories of housing and animal governance in the city show how ideas of human-dog companionship are shot through with ideas of wildness, citizenship, and species politics.