(MY) exotic foods

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Only eight exotic meat outlet owners hauled up-New Straits Times

17 Mar 2007

Sim Bak Heng

 

JOHOR BARU: Restaurants serving exotic meat are mushrooming all over

the country but only eight operators have been taken to court in the

last five years.

 

The restaurant owners were merely fined between RM1,800 and RM5,000

and not one of them had to spend a day in jail even though the law

provided for a custodial sentence.

 

The eight were from Johor, Malacca, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Pahang.

 

They were charged with possessing the meat of various protected

animals in their restaurants, including pig-tailed macaque, tiger,

bear, crocodile, python, tapir, civet cat, porcupine, mouse-deer and

bats.

 

Under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, those caught in possession of

a protected species are liable to a fine of not more than RM15,000,

and a jail term not exceeding five years.

 

But based on the statistics released by the Wildlife Protection

Department to the New Straits Times yesterday, the future for these

animals does not look promising.

 

The department's Enforcement director Misliah Mohamad Basir said

restaurants selling the meat of protected species would be difficult

to curb as long as demand remained high.

 

" The protected species can only be saved if these people change their

eating habits, " Misliah said.

 

She agreed that more deterrent sentences were needed to fight the problem.

 

" We also need public tip-offs f on outlets selling exotic meat. This

would certainly help us in our enforcement. "

 

She said while information on restaurants selling exotic meat was

scarce, the department received numerous tip-offs on the smuggling of

protected species.

 

The department has crippled 135 smuggling syndicates between 2001 and 2005.

 

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Ampang branch)

chairman Christine Chin said the consumption of exotic meat was not

necessary and was morally wrong.

 

" I am sad there are those who feel that the meat has a potent quality,

which is merely a superstition.

 

" With this belief, many restaurateurs are capitalising by charging

exorbitant prices for the meat, " she said.