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Task force for island dog - Malay Mail ulau

Ktam<http://www.mmail.com.my/category/tags/pulau-ketam>

 

strays <http://www.mmail.com.my/category/tags/strays>

Systematic plan to rescue strays set up

Nevash Nair <http://www.mmail.com.my/source/nevash-nair>

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 07:35:00

<http://www.mmail.com.my/content/dogcatcher>

 

RESCUE: SPCA workers carrying one of the stray dogs they managed to save at

the Selat Kering island.

A SPECIAL task force has been set up to resolve the issue of stray dogs that

were left on uninhabited islands off Pulau Ketam.

 

After the Ketam dog issue was highlighted by the media, the Klang Municipal

Council met with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), animal rights

activists, members of the public and elected representatives to discuss

immediate action to solve the issue.

 

The meeting was chaired by councillor Datuk Abdul Ghani Pateh Akhir and

involved Kapar MP'S. Manikavasagam and Klang Selat State assemblymen Dr

Halimah Ali, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA),

Furry Friends Farm (FFF), Save A Stray (SAS) and the Department of

Veterinary Services (DVS).

 

Also present were animal activists, representatives from the Hulu Selangor

Municipal Council and Petaling Jaya Municipal Council.

 

SAS founder Jacqueline Tsang was vocal during the two-and-a-half hour

meeting, calling for immediate action by the council and urging for a joint

effort from all relevant parties to help bring an end to the misery of some

1,100 stray dogs on islands near Pulau Ketam.

 

She also provided guidelines that included the feeding of strays on the

island.

 

All representatives provided their input and PJ councillor Anthony

Thanasayan even offered to help the Klang council solve the issue.

 

There was heated discussion and disagreement over the importance of feeding

the strays. Finally, they decided to form a special task force which would

include NGOs, members of the public and council representatives to look into

the feeding of the strays.

 

The SPCA was assigned to lead the programme, which would be assisted by

other NGOs.

 

The FFF and the Klang council would work together to trap and catch the

stranded dogs.

 

The third part of the plan was to ensure that all dogs from the island would

undergo sterilisation to be carried out by the DVS.

 

SAS will be in charge of finding new homes for the dogs.

 

Last week, it was reported that stray dogs were left to fend for themselves

on the uninhabited Pulau Selat Kering and had resorted to eating each other

to survive.

 

This was the gruesome finding of the SPCA, animal inspectors and SAS founder

Tsang when they visited the island off Pulau Ketam.

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Sunday May 10, 2009 - The Sun Dogged by islanders’ cruel action By WANI

MUTHIAH

 

*It’s a doggone pity that what may have been a more humane alternative to

stray dog culling backfired when the canines starved to death on two

islands, creating waves of anger all over the world.*

 

IT happened about 10 years ago but the dog-shooting event left a scarring

memory on teenager Vivien. Only five or six years old then, she witnessed

the shooting of stray dogs on her island of Pulau Ketam by a team from the

Klang Municipal Council (MPK).

 

“They shot all the stray dogs on the island, including a young dog that I

liked and had been feeding,” she recalls.

 

The experience not only frightened Vivien, as she wants to be known, but

also the rest of the islanders who were mostly small scale fishermen and

traders then. Pulau Ketam headman Cha Keng Lee too recalls the incident and

says that the MPK dog-catching unit visits the island once in two years.

 

“They do not shoot dogs anymore but we still do not like how they

exterminate the dogs. They hang them to death before loading the carcasses

into boats to be taken to the mainland,” claims Cha.

 

As the village headman, he is concerned that such an inhumane action would

put off tourists to the island, which is one of Selangor’s tourist

attractions.

 

“That is why we decided to trap the strays on the island and transport them

to the nearby islands of Pulau Tengah and Pulau Selat Kering so that they

would not have to be killed,” says Cha.

 

However, he adds, he was not aware that the islands would not have food or

water to sustain the canines.

 

Clarence Chua, spokesman for canine welfare project Malaysian Dogs Deserve

Better, scoffs at Cha’s claims, saying it is difficult to believe that Pulau

Ketam residents didn’t know about the islands’ physical condition.

 

“It is ridiculous for someone from the Pulau Ketam fishing and trading

community to make such a claim,” says Chua.

 

Ironically, what the villagers believed was a better solution than MPK’s has

blown up in their faces and Pulau Ketam is now regarded with disdain by not

only the locals but also the international community.

 

Media reports about 400 strays trapped and dumped on the uninhabited islands

surrounding Pulau Ketam have resulted in an international outcry.

 

Many of the unfortunate dogs died and those surviving have resorted to

eating the carcasses of the ones that had died.

 

Animal activists have been racing to both islands to rescue the dogs but

geographical obstacles such as the mangrove swamp surrounding the location

have made the rescue operations difficult.

 

So far, Furry Friends Farm has managed to rescue five dogs while the Society

for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has rescued two.

 

The catastrophe which has been extensively covered by the local media had

also found its way into ABC News, CNBC, Fox News and newspapers in the

United States, Britain and the Philippines.

 

Local animal welfare activists are also up in arms not only against the folk

of Pulau Ketam but also the local authorities.

 

This is not the first time that the local authorities have come under fire

from animal welfare groups for their alleged inhumane methods of handling

stray dogs.

 

In February this year, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) garnered negative

publicity when allegations surfaced that its staff were breaking the necks

of dogs in their pound before dumping the carcasses in an open grave. Animal

activists gathered outside the DBKL pound and held a peaceful vigil in

protest. DBKL was also taken to task by animal welfare groups for allegedly

feeding stray dogs poisoned chicken meat to cull them.

 

DBKL denied both allegations even though there was a video footage of the

first incident and witnesses’ account for the second.

 

Bounty hunters

 

The Selangor Government has also been criticised for allowing local councils

to spend hundreds of thousands of ringgit to hire two canine bounty hunting

companies to round up stray dogs.

 

The companies were paid about RM30 per dog caught and it was common to see

many of the dogs in the pound wearing collars, indicating that they belonged

to someone.

 

Some of the local councils, such as MPK which does not have pounds to hold

caught strays, have also been lambasted for keeping the dogs in lorries for

days before they are euthanised.

 

Independent Pet Rescuers founder Sherrina Krishnan says the money should

instead be used to create a humane method of dealing with the stray dog

population.

 

“Why not give the independent animal welfare groups land to collectively

build a sanctuary for these dogs and the money could be used to neuter all

the rescued dogs as well as to manage the place?” says Sherrina.

 

James Hogan, vice-chairman of the London-based Mayhew Animal Home and Humane

Education Centre, says in an e-mail interview that he was shocked and

disturbed by what had transpired in Pulau Ketam.

 

Sadly, it is one more example of what happens when there is inadequate

regulatory framework to govern the way people relate to the animals. He adds

that the review of existing animal protection legislation currently being

carried by the Malaysian Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) must be

accompanied by pro-active enforcement measures.

 

He says it would be interesting to make statistical comparisons between the

way enforcement is effected in England and in Malaysia.

 

In 2007, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA),

investigated 137,245 complaints of cruelty, issued thousands of verbal

warnings, spent £6mil on prosecutions and secured 2,026 convictions in court

hearings for cruelty, he shares.

 

Hogan adds that convictions resulted in jail sentences, bans from keeping

animals, community service orders, conditional discharges and fines ranging

from hundreds to thousands of pounds.

 

“It would be interesting to compare these statistics with the number of

court hearings, convictions, bans, fines, etc, that were effected by the DVS

during the same period in Malaysia,” he says.

 

In Malaysia, people are hardly brought to court over animal cruelty cases

and those prosecuted are let off with merely a slap on the wrist.

 

Seeking a lasting solution

 

Hogan says his organisation regularly plays host to delegations from

overseas city governments who want to find a lasting solution to the issue

of animal over-population in their city.

 

“For the record, I have personally made several approaches to the Malaysian

High Commission in London, inviting them to send someone to visit us so we

could at least have some exploratory discussions about this issue but they

have shown no interest in engaging with us,” says Hogan.

 

Meanwhile, Selangor exco member in charge of local councils Ronnie Liu has

called for all independent rescuers and rescue groups to come forward and

work with the state government on matters pertaining to animal welfare.

 

“Please take the initiative to come forward so that all of us can work

together with the local councils to bring positive changes to the methods

currently in use to counter the problems of strays in the state,” he says.

 

Liu adds that he is open to suggestions and wants more groups to participate

in the rescue of the abandoned dogs.

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Animals have as much rights as humans - The Star By RASHVINJEET S.BEDI

 

THE 16th American President Abraham Lincoln once said he was in favour of

animal rights as well as human rights.

 

“That is the way of a whole human being,” he said.

 

And just like humans have their stated rights, so should animals – they

should have freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from fear, freedom from

pain and injury, freedom to live and freedom to express natural behaviour.

 

“These are the generally accepted animal rights,” says Society for the

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) spokesperson Jacinta Johnson.

 

People treat their animals differently. There are those who over-pamper them

and there are those who abuse them, Johnson says.

 

Of the latter, she says they “semi-own” the pets, meaning they just feed

them but never do much beyond that, like taking them to the vet.

 

“Their definition of caring for a pet is providing it with food,” she says.

 

Johnson says a responsible pet owner would take care of its food, exercise,

environment and veterinary treatment, among other things.

 

On the other hand, “We don’t support over-pampering of pets, such as buying

it expensive clothes, or sending it for grooming or to the pet spa,” she

says.

 

“It’s not a basic need for a pet. If you didn’t send your pet to a spa, it

doesn’t make you a bad owner.”

 

On the opposite extreme, there are those who intentionally abuse animals,

ranging from caging them to torturing them.

 

“An animal can’t be caged all the time. It is not given the freedom to

express its natural behaviour,” Johnson says.

 

Independent Pet Rescuers founding member Sherrina Krishnan says Malaysians

can be unintentionally cruel to their pets.

 

“Just look at the number of strays around. It is the fault of people and not

the animals,” she says.

 

The number of strays could be reduced but many people think it is sinful to

neuter pets, especially cats, she explains.

 

“They might think it is sinful to prevent the cats from giving birth, but

when kittens are delivered they are dumped everywhere. That’s more sinful,”

says Krishnan, adding that she often calls the authorities in charge of the

Ampang Elevated Highway where a lot of kittens are dumped.

 

Releasing doves during occasions such as weddings is another practice that

is not encouraged by animal rights advocates.

 

“Releasing doves is supposed to be a sign of freedom and purity. But why do

you need animals to advocate that for humans?” Krishnan wonders.

 

Johnson agrees, saying that the practice of releasing doves is no longer

acceptable in the United Kingdom and European countries.

 

“Most of the doves would have been purchased from a pet shop where they

would have been fed. If you release them in any place, they might not have a

source of food and they might find it difficult to survive,” she says.

 

“People might think that they are releasing the dove and it is free to fly

away, but they don’t see the bigger picture,” she adds.

 

Similarly, releasing turtles and terrapins into the wild is not encouraged,

as it can be harmful to the ecology. However, people usually release these

animals into drains and ponds when they grow too big, says Johnson.

 

“What people don’t understand is these terrapins can grow really big. People

like them when they are small and cute but when the novelty wears off they

try to off-load them,” she says.

 

SPCA also doesn’t encourage keeping exotic or wild animals such as iguanas,

snakes or reptiles. Johnson says the in-thing nowadays is to keep sugar

gliders, a small mammal that looks like a snail without a tail. According to

Johnson, these animals are kept in the pocket and carried around.

 

“We don’t encourage it because we can never provide the right environment

for these animals. Snakes are kept in a glass tank, for example. That is not

the proper environment for them,” she says.

 

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way

its animals are treated,” Mahatma Gandhi, the eminent Indian leader who

inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world, once said.

 

Such words should be a guide for all who have animals under their care.