Rabid witch-hunt against strays shocking
Anthony Thanasayan
Sep 13, 07 1:50pm Adjust font size:
I refer to the malaysiakini report Protest held over MPS' dog-hunt. Have we lost our marbles? How utterly disgraceful it was to read about the Selayang Municipal Council’s dog- catching competition which has been opened to residents in the area to participate with attractive sums as high as RM15,000 as prizes for the winners.
And if that wasn’t egregious enough, what a shock it was to see an elected assemblyman throwing his support behind such an insane cause by having a photo of him in a local newspaper smiling as he ‘catches’ a cardboard mock-up of a stray dog.
One minute, we seem to be doing the most noble thing by bestowing historic medals on disc- sniffing dogs such as Lucky and Flo recently. And the next, we’re all out in a rabid witch-hunt against stray animals instead of responding to them in a calculated, matured, responsible and loving manner.
The MPS should be putting the competition money to better use such as to educate residents about how to be more responsible and caring for pets and animals in order to prevent them from ending up as strays.
There are also enough animal-welfare organisations for them to consult and work together with instead of coming up with ridiculous measures to address the stray problem.
What kind of values and lessons are we teaching our children by such ruthless competitions other than to say that animals do not deserve any respect and that we as human beings have the supreme authority to do whatever we please with them with money as the only object and criteria?
Our local councils should respect all dogs whether they are pedigrees or strays on the streets. They should come up with laws that are not only kind and fair to pets and their owners and instead of ludicrous dog-catching competitions, come up with local awards for dogs and their owners who make good examples as human and animal citizens of our society.
Special awards and financial assistance (such as the competition’s money) should be given by local councils to the many Malaysians who volunteer their time, money and even their lives to rescue unwanted, distressed and ‘wild’ dogs from the streets and to place them in loving and permanent homes.
The writer is president, Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (PetPositive).
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