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Opinion
Friday April 13, 2007
Train stray dogs to serve disabled
WE ARE most delighted to learn from your newspaper that a three-month extension has been given to popular and pirated CD-busting pooches Lucky and Flo which are currently on loan from Northern Ireland.
We are also pleased to note that the two Labrador Retrievers have now virtually turned into celebrity canines of sorts in their mission to help Malaysia fight CD piracy. (“Dogs to tackle pirated disc hub” – The Star, April 11).
As a national society that aims to use animals, especially pets, for the good of mankind, we at Petpositive are very inspired by Lucky and Flo.
For us, the remarkable canines are not only performing a wonderful job of checking illegal activities but they are also effectively assisting to arrest ignorance and prejudice against dogs that exists in some quarters of our society.
It is strange how we idolise dogs like Lucky and Flo one minute, and then have no qualms whatsoever about doing the opposite like shooting to maim and kill other canines we deemd have little or no value in society.
Often dogs with no licences are seized from their homes or cold-bloodedly shot in front of their owners with little respect given whether they happen to be children, the elderly or the disabled who might be depending on them for animal-assisted therapy.
Some dog owners are unfortunately no better in their treatment of their pets. The animals in their care also end up being victimised as a result. Such owners have more dogs than they can actually handle, neglect their pets and allow them to be a nuisance to others.
If given the opportunity to be rehabilitated and trained like Lucky and Flo, many of the stray dogs could also potentially play positive roles in our society.
They could be used in a variety of ways to help Malaysians. One is to offer comfort to the sick (dogs accept people unconditionally), be a companion to the elderly who live alone and even offer independence to the disabled by physically helping them.
Just like Lucky and Flo who have now permission to go into shopping complexes, Petpositive looks forward to the day when the blind will one day be able to go into shopping complexes with their guide dogs, the physically disabled, pulled along in their wheelchairs with their service dogs and the deaf being helped with their hearing dogs.
Surely, extending independence for such persons – which only their highly trained specialised canines can provide – is far more important and valuable than just shiny fascinating discs.
ANTHONY SIVA BALAN THANASAYAN,
President,
Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive).
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