Castaway dogs trouble Malaysian conscience

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2009:

 

 

Castaway dogs trouble Malaysian conscience

 

PULAU KETAM, Malaysia-- Striving to rescue more than 150

dogs who survived being deliberately marooned on a remote swampy

island in the Straits of Malacca, the Malaysian animal charities

Furry Friends Farm, Selangor SPCA, and Save A Stray had among them

caught just a few dozen in a month of effort as ANIMAL PEOPLE went to

press--but they had stimulated awareness of surgically sterilizing

dogs wherever television, radio, and online media reach in the

Malay language, including Singapore and Indonesia as well as

Malaysia.

The Pulau Ketam dog rescue showed promise of expanding into

the beginnings of a regional Animal Birth Control program, modeled

after ABC successes in India. Malaysian Department of Veterinary

Services director general Abd Aziz Jamaluddin told Lestor Kong of The

Star that the department will send 10 veterinarians to Palau Ketam to

sterilize dogs on June 27-28.

" Pulau Ketam residents had trapped and dumped the dogs on the

island since early March, " reported Shoba Mano of The Star, " with

allocations allegedly provided by Klang municipal councillor Tee Beng

Lee. In late April, animal activist Sabrina Yeap read a Chinese

newspaper report where independent animal rescuers complained of dogs

being abandoned on uninhabited islands off Pulau Ketam, near Port

Klang. Shocked, Yeap shared her concerns with fellow activist and

blogger, Terence Victor Smith, better known as TV Smith. He

immediately went on an expedition to investigate the matter. "

Smith, an active blogger, relayed word of the dogs' plight

to the outside world on May 2, 2009. Smith is no relation to the

British punk rocker of the same name. " Unfortunately, I am not as

talented, " Smith told ANIMAL PEOPLE. Yet the rock star probably

never sang a message that resonated as far, as fast, as Smith's

posting.

" The Pulau Ketam villagers have been rounding up all the

dogs on the island and shipping them to a deserted mangrove island, "

Smith began. " I met with the village head, and was shocked to hear

that they did not even consider how the unfortunate dogs would

survive. Friends Daniel Tang and Sabrina Yeap, " the Furry Friends

Farm founder, " accompanied me on a reconnaissance trip. We

chartered a boat. As we approached the island, I was thinking we

would only see bones and carcasses. Poisonous snakes abound on the

waterlogged island and the mud and sand will swallow you when you

walk on it. The first dog we saw managed to wag his tail feebly upon

seeing us. "

This dog, photographed perching in a tree, became the

poster dog for the Furry Friends Farm rescue effort.

" According to local fishers, " Smith said, " the starving

animals resorted to cannibalism. They ate the carcasses of the fellow

castaways who didn't survive. They were so desperate that they swam

to nearby kelongs, " the floating platforms used as homes and

workplaces by local fishing families, " only to be chased away. Many

weaker dogs died in the water. We enlisted the help of a couple of

Indonesian workers from a nearby kelong. They will also try to feed

and trap the remaining dogs where possible.

" Boat hire is expensive there, " Smith observed. " It is a

tourist area. Rescued dogs cannot be transported on the regular

ferries. Almost nobody will lift a finger to help without a fee, "

Smith found. " The locals are already shaking their heads in

disbelief that outsiders want to save the animals they so casually

discarded. We need their co-operation to help save the unfortunate

creatures, " Smith concluded. " We also hope to educate the islanders

on better treatment of animals. It would be an impossible mission if

we didn't win their hearts. "

Word of the dogs' plight had circulated through Malay media

for about a month before reaching Smith.

" The news that Pulau Ketam residents had placed some 312

stray dogs on three nearby deserted mangrove islands sparked a public

outcry, " reported the Malay Mail. " The villagers defended their

actions as their last resort to try to overcome their stray dog

problem. There were about 2,000 strays on Pulau Ketam, " the Malay

Mail said.

" Heat is on us now "

" The heat is on us now, " Pulau Ketam politician Pua Kin Lok

said, " but we can't wait until the dogs start eating us before we do

something. We're doing this on our own because the government has

not come up with a better solution. We have had at least four cases

of children being attacked by dogs. It is very scary for us,

especially at night. "

" The dogs, who lived below the stilt houses, would come up

to the wooden platforms [supporting the houses] during high tide, "

wrote Edward Rajendra of the Malaysia Star. " Pulau Ketam village

head Cha Keng Lee said most residents felt that the move to send the

animals to the nearby islands would resolve the stray dog problem.

The uninhabited island would also offer more space to the dogs, he

said. "

" Our aim was not to be cruel to the dogs. But we strongly

feel that the stray dog problem must be solved, " Lee told Rajendra.

" When the dogs come up to the platform, they defecate all over.

Sometimes they also bite the children. "

The Pulau Ketam islanders " meant to be kind, as they were

uncomfortable with the way stray dogs were exterminated by local

council staff, " said Wani Muthiah of the Star.

Responded K. Sri Dhammaratana, the Buddhist chief high

priest of Malaysia, " It shows that they lack compassion. To

abandon dogs on an island which has no food and water is

unacceptable. They have forgotten that these dogs are living things. "

Five days after Smith and Sabrina Yeap began their rescue

attempts, and began trying to mobilize to do more, five Selangor

SPCA and Save A Stray personnel visited the marooned dogs, taking

nine reporters with them. They caught just two dogs.

Their involvement, beginning after Smith and Yeap had begun

international fundraising to hire more boats and help, generated

some initial suspicion. Yeap worked for the Selangor SPCA before

starting Furry Friends Farm, and there was friction about the

parting of the ways. Awkward cooperation developed as the rescue

proved to be a longterm project.

" We need more help in terms of funds and support, " said Save

A Stray founder Jacqueline Tsang. " These dogs are foragers, not

hunters. They cannot live here even if they learn to hunt. Many

will die. We are here to educate the people and inform them that we

need to neuter the dogs. "

" To date, more than half of the 300 dogs left on one of the

islands, Pulau Tengah, have died from starvation or dehydration, "

the Malay Mail reported on May 7. " On the furthest island, Pulau

Selat Kering, dogs were found to be attacking and eating each other. "

" The dogs were so frightened at the sight of a big group of

people that they fled deeper into the island, " wrote Rajendra. The

dogs remained deep among the mangroves as the incoming tide covered

much of the island surface.

The Selangor SPCA and Save A Stray set up feeding stations,

as Furry Friends Farm had, to try to win the dogs' trust. Diving

instructor Pamela " Pumpkin " Lim C heng Yoke became the on-site

director of rescue. Volunteers Marjorie Gabriel and Karin Lee built

four " food pontoons, " consisting of platforms attached to empty oil

drums. The " food pontoons " kept the food above water even at high

tide, and gave the dogs a relatively dry resting place.

Among them, the three groups rescued only five dogs during

their first week of attempts, reported Wani Muthiah of the Star.

They were more successful in their second week. Furry Friends Farm

caught 15 dogs and the Selangor SPCA caught 13.

The rescuers had hoped to get support from the Klang

Municipal Council, after the council reportedly promised Furry

Friends Farm legal adviser that help would be forthcoming. " We want

the council to provide us with boats and dog catchers to make the

rescue mission easier and more cost-efficient, " Fernandez told the

Star. " But they are not being helpful at all. "

Blogged Smith, " Those responsible for dumping the dogs are

still sitting on their ass and not doing anything to help despite

offering to do so. We have no choice but to work with the killers at

the moment, as only they know where the dogs were dumped. "

Despite frustration with the council's inertia, the Selangor

SPCA hoped that the official involvement would lead to " long-term

sterilization and education efforts on Pulau Ketam within the next

three months. A dog population census/survey needs to be carried out

to obtain a more accurate figure for the population, currently

estimated at 1,500-2,000 dogs, " the Selangor SPCA web site

recommended. " An area of approximately 2,000 square feet needs to be

located on Pulau Ketam for a temporary neutering clinic, as well as

a holding and post-operation facility. "

According to the Selangor SPCA plan, " Sterilization will

target pet dogs first, then community dogs and strays. Community

dogs and strays will be vaccinated, treated and neutered before

being returned to their original location or moved back to the

mainland for rehoming, " in a " collaborative effort between animal

welfare groups. "

Prior to the sterilization campaign, the program

participants would " arrange for an educational talk for the

residents, to highlight the importance of neutering to curb the

number of dogs on the island, as well as dispel any myths or

misconceptions they have about neutering. "

 

Contact:

 

The Furry Friends Farm Rescue Mission Secretariat:

<dogrescue.pk; telephone +601-2378-3730 or

+601-2320-8090. Rescue updates are posted at

<www.mycen.com.my/rescue>.

TV Smith: <tvsmith.

Sabrina Yeap: <yeapwen.

Selangor SPCA: <enquiries; <www.spca.org.my/>;

603-4256-5312; Jalan Kerja, Ayer Lama, 68000 Ampang Jaya,

Selangor Darul Ehsan.

 

 

--

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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