Malaysian humane community stops Selayang dog-catching contest

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007:

 

 

Malaysian humane community stops Selayang dog-catching contest

 

 

SELAYANG, Malaysia--The Selayang Municipal Council on

September 13, 2007 cancelled a dogcatching contest begun the

previous week, which had offered 78,000 ringgit--about $22,200--in

cash prizes.

The cancellation displayed the growing influence of the

Malaysian humane movement, which draws support from all of the major

ethnic and religious communities in a nation where politics often

split along ethnic or religious divides.

Selangor council president Zainal Abidin Azim opened the

dog-catching contest on September 5, in response, he said, to

receiving about 80 complaints per month about stray dogs. Teams or

individuals were required to catch at least 150 dogs in six months to

qualify for awards of 15,000, 13,000, and 11,000 ringgit.

The contest started out with the endorsement of Rawang state

assembly member Tang See Hang, who posed for photographers

" capturing " a cardboard cutout of a dog.

Asked what would become of dogs caught during the contest,

Tang See Hung told media, " Anyone who wishes to rear the dogs will

be welcome to pick them up. Otherwise we would dispose of them

through the council's own methods. "

Amended Selangor First Minister Mohamed Khir Toyo, after

Tang See Hung's remarks were fiercely denounced in the letters

columns of the Malaysia Star and New Straits Times, " All the

animals caught will be given to the SPCA, and the dogs would be

housed, or even put to sleep, based on their reasonable expertise.

" Competitions like this are good, " Khir Toyo continued.

" Dog-catching must be done, as strays could attack children or even

adults. The animals could also spread diseases, as the strays

rummage through garbage and get skin diseases. "

But Khir Toyo told Edward Rajendra of the Malaysia Star that

too much prize money was offered. " We have to create a commitment

among the public to control the number of strays, " Khir Toyo said,

but not with such exorbitant prizes. "

Rebutted SPCA Selangor chair Christine Chin, " We can't

propagate a fun and festive mood in dog catching, as the whole idea

is wrong. Having such a competition encourages cruelty. " Chin

further pointed out that the SPCA Selangor is not a municipal animal

control agency. " The SPCA does not catch or destroy animals, " Chin

said. " In fact it is wrong to say that the dogs would be handed to

us. Our role is to prevent cruelty to animals, promote kindness to

animals, and encourage responsible pet ownership. "

Other Malaysian humane societies amplified Chin's criticisms.

" We believe, this inhumane competition will not only subject

stray dogs to cruelty, but will cause dognapping, because it will

be easier and faster [to catch tame dogs] to fulfill the prize

eligibility, " said Nick Josh K. Karean of the Humane Society

Independent Group of Malaysia. Karean started a worldwide electronic

petition against the contest.

Furry Friends spokesperson Sabrina Yeap recommended that the

reward fund should be spent instead to hire professional

dog-catchers, whose methods would meet acceptable humane standards.

Explained Malaysian Animal Rights & Welfare Society president

and attorney N. Surendran to Mazlinda Mahmood of the New Straits

Times, " The only proven way to solve the problem is a comprehensive

spaying campaign, coupled with a public education program to teach

owners to neuter their pets and not abandon them. "

Surendran recommended the introduction of licensing with

discounts for sterilized pets, and alleged that the Selangor council

" is committing cruelty to animals and exposing the public to danger.

Who's going to be liable, " Surendran asked, " if someone is bitten?

The council could be sued and taxpayers would have to foot the bill. "

Agreed veterinarian Lynnette Low, displaying scars on her

arms to Mahmood, " Even professionals get hurt when they deal with

dogs. "

Said dog rescuer Natasha Valerie Fernz, " When dogs are

cornered, their natural reaction is to bite. Then people will blame

the dogs and say they should be destroyed. "

As the issue heated up, Selayang Municipal Council president

Zainal Abidin avoided humane delegations by taking a leave of

absence. Hecklers confronted 30 animals advocates on September 11,

but failed to provoke a hostile response.

The Selangor campaign paralleled the humane response a year

earlier, after 13 dogs were shot by order of the Seremban Municipal

Council. An ad hoc Coalition Against Dog Shooting & Other Inhumane

Methods formed, including six animal welfare organizations and two

organizations focused on human rights and welfare.

Another dog shooting followed, in front of more than 100

young witnesses in the compound of a secondary school in Ipoh. Under

pressure from the children, many of their parents, and the

Coalition Against Dog Shooting, the Ipoh City Council voted to " use

tranquilisers instead of bullets from now on, " explained mayor

Mohamad Rafiai Mokhtar to news media.

 

Protest saves pigs

 

Protest based on ethnic and economic grievances, more

familiar to most Malaysians, meanwhile saved as many as 150,000 pigs

in early September 2007--at least until they reached normal

slaughtering weight.

For most of the day on September 4, about 100 villagers

including women and children stood off between 200 and 300 police

officers, half of the police in riot gear, after the police

descended on Paya Mengkuang, Malacca, with six excavators to dig

mass graves for culled pigs, plus several trucks outfitted with

water cannon.

The Malacca state government had ordered the closure of 15

farms with a combined total of 150,000 pigs.

Similar stand-offs reportedly came at Ayer Molek and Bukit

Beruang villages.

Agence France-Press said late in the day that the pig-killing

had finally started. " More than 60% of Malaysians are Muslim and

consider pigs and pork unclean, " Agence France-Press explained.

" The country's pig farmers are mostly from Malaysia's sizeable

Chinese population.

Malaccan government spokespersons denied on September 5 that

any pigs were killed. Instead, they announced, an agreement had

been reached whereby the farmers agreed to sell 2,000 pigs per day to

reduce the pig population to 48,000 by September 21.

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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