(MY) wildlife smuggling and animal rights

[Guest guest]

Wednesday October 17, 2007-The Star

 

Kelantan still notorious for wildlife smuggling

 

By IAN MCINTYRE

 

KOTA BARU: Kelantan continues to be a hotspot for wildlife trafficking

despite various efforts to smash syndicates smuggling out protected

and exotic species.

 

The conclusion was reached after an anti-smuggling unit recently

thwarted an attempt to smuggle out the carcass of a two-year-old

female black panther at the border township of Rantau Panjang, 50km

from here.

 

Wildlife enforcement officials accompanied by the anti-smuggling team

trailed a suspected smuggler for six hours last Thursday near the

township before intercepting his car at about 5pm.

 

The suspect abandoned his car, jumped into a boat and rowed through

Sungai Golok to reach the Thai side.

 

A state Wildlife and National Parks Department spokesman confirmed

that the panther, worth an estimated RM16,000, was the work of a

syndicate and investigations were underway to nab the culprits.

 

The carcass is currently stored at the department's office as part of

the investigation and it is believed that the protected species was

killed in a Kuala Krai forest.

 

According to Traffic South East Asia (Wildlife Trade Monitoring

Network) senior programming officer Chris Shepherd, the porous

boundary conditions are ideal grounds for organised smuggling of

wildlife, notably leopards, tigers, pangolins and freshwater turtles.

 

Malaysia as a member of Asean, is increasingly under threat from

transboundary smuggling and the resulting effect is dwindling numbers

of protected species and exotic animals, Shepherd said.

 

" The entire region is facing increasing pressure from wildlife

smuggling. Enforcement authorities are struggling to keep abreast of

the tactics of organised wildlife smugglers.

 

" What has been detected is only the tip of the iceberg, " he said.

 

Kelantan is a traditional smugglers den and it is also a top transit

route used by wildlife smugglers to send across shipments to Thailand

and China where the black panther is destined for the cooking pot.

 

To make matters worse, Malaysians are increasingly fond of exotic animal meat.

 

Despite the presence of wildlife conservationist groups such as World

Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Malaysia) and various campaigns here, the

state continues to be notorious for wildlife smuggling.

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Animal rights, human wrongs

 

Reflecting on the Law: By SHAD SALEEM FARUQI.

 

We need to adopt and enforce laws and policies about humane treatment

of animals in every sphere of interaction with our fellow creatures.

 

CRUELTY towards all other forms of life has been a shameful aspect of

human existence for thousands of years.

 

We use our distant cousins in feather and fur for food. Many animals

are exploited as beasts of burden. We kill beautiful creatures for

their fur. To some people fashion statements are more important than

reverence for life!

 

Poachers kill rare animals for ivory and for the manufacture of

aphrodisiacs. Medical schools use live animals for dissection. Animal

organs are used in xenotransplantation to save human lives. Genetic

engineering of animals is increasingly common.

 

There are cruel sports such as hunting and cockfights. Matadors pierce

bulls' bodies to the roar of delighted fans. Animal businesses employ

brutal ways of transporting creatures from farms to markets.

 

Slaughterhouses skin animals alive. Some of our exotic food

preferences and cooking techniques are absolutely bestial. Fish and

crustaceans are cooked alive. In some gourmet restaurants live monkey

skulls are split open for connoisseurs to feast on raw brain!

 

The smugness with which man does whatever he pleases to other species

exemplifies a brutal anthropocentric approach and is based on the

principle that might is right.

 

I have reliable reports from animal lovers that, contrary to official

denial, monkeys are being trapped and shot in Bangsar in Kuala Lumpur.

It is suspected that unscrupulous traffickers in animals are

emboldened by the recent lifting of the ban by our authorities on the

export of monkeys.

 

Animal lovers fear that many of the monkeys trapped or shot dead will

end up in cooking pots or on vivisection tables in laboratories.

 

I have strong doubts about the morality or utility of monkey and crow

shoots, and the offering of rewards to catchers of stray dogs.

 

Are we ignoring the root causes of conflict between animals and humans

– the damage to our environment, the slow elimination of our flora and

fauna, the constant encroachment on animal habitats and the slow but

sure de-gazetting of forest reserves, green belts and parks?

 

These human-centred development policies confirm our callousness

towards animal welfare, and reinforce the mistaken view that all other

forms of life on this planet exist only to serve human beings.

 

In fact, they have God's own reason for existence.

 

Some readers will, of course, wonder why " animal rights " are

important. Animals are, after all, a " lower form " of life.

 

My answer is that animals are our fellow creatures and part of God's

majestic creation. Like humans, they have a spark of life that

deserves respect and demands compassion.

 

Whether animals can reason or talk is less important than whether they

can suffer. It is undeniable that all animals with central nervous

systems feel pain. Their suffering at our hands is as real as our

suffering would be if the roles were reversed.

 

In an earlier age, most human beings had a " tribal ethic " . Members of

the tribe were protected, but people of other tribes could be robbed,

raped or killed as one pleased.

 

As civilisation advanced, the circle of protection expanded. We began

to see the evil in tribalism, slavery, caste system, racism, religious

bigotry, colonialism and gender exploitation.

 

Pete Singer says that " just as we have progressed beyond the blatantly

racist ethic of the era of slavery and colonialism, so we must now

progress beyond the species-ist ethic of the era of factory farming,

of the use of animals as mere research tools, of whaling, seal

hunting, kangaroo slaughter and the destruction of wilderness. We must

take the final step in expanding the circle of ethics " .

 

" Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its

full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures " – Albert

Schweitzer.

 

" Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the

child as it is to the caterpillar " – Bradley Millar.

 

Many studies indicate that those who are cruel towards animals are

also more disposed to crimes against other human beings.

 

The movement for the protection of animals is split into two. The

first approach is that animals are sentient beings possessing inherent

value and deserving moral and legal rights.

 

Religions like Buddhism and Hinduism support this approach fully. In

most other religions there are strictures against cruelty towards

animals. Unfortunately there is as yet no international treaty on

animal rights.

 

The second approach is that animals have no inherent rights, but their

protection is part of the biodiversity of this planet. As such,

animals should be protected because of their instrumental value for

the survival of this planet's ecosystem.

 

Both approaches call for methods and environments that are more humane

for the lives of animals, and envisage that the time will come when

animals will not be used as mere tools of human interest.

 

A few non-binding instruments like the International Convention for

the Protection of Animals, 1988, and the World Medical Association

Statement on Animal Use in Biomedical Research, 1989, have been framed

by eminent legal thinkers and regional organisations.

 

Europe is providing leadership. There are documents for the protection

of animals kept for farming purposes (1976), for slaughter (1979), as

pets (1987), and during international transport (1971).

 

The Humane Society of the US has a number of documents on farm

animals, biomedical research, animals in entertainment, and

competition and companion animals.

 

Sadly, the Malaysian legal system has not developed along these lines.

The Penal Code regards animals as property and makes it a criminal

offence to " (commit) mischief by killing, poisoning, maiming, or

rendering useless, any animal or animals of the value of five dollars

or upwards " .

 

The law is obviously quite inadequate to deal with many of the animal

abuses mentioned earlier.

 

What we need to do is to adopt and enforce laws and policies about

humane treatment of animals in every sphere of interaction with our

fellow creatures.

 

In addition, we need to conserve and protect areas that are vital to

the survival of all other inhabitants of the earth. We need to learn

to live with our fellow creatures. This new consciousness cannot wait.

Time is running out on our planet.

 

The Government must join hands with animal lovers to remind the

apathetic citizenry of the unity of life and its interconnectedness.

 

Education should be directed towards the refinement of the

individual's sensibilities in relation not only to one's fellow humans

everywhere, but also to all things everywhere.

 

Animals are not our underlings. They are an integral part of the net

of life and time. They are fellow prisoners of the splendour and

travail of Earth. Our life depends on their survival.

 

 

 

Dr Shad Faruqi is Professor of Law at UiTM