Zeus VK Haras

WHEN I wrote, a fortnight ago, about the death of my very first service dog (SD) Vai my Rottweiler, I never imagined the kind of response my article would elicit from readers of this column.

In fact, there were so many of them that I completely lost count.

Not only was my email inundated with messages of condolences and heartfelt words of comfort, it also happened with my Facebook, blog and SMS on my personal mobile phone.

As I opened and read each and every one of them, I choked. This time it was not tears of sadness but rather one of joy.

I was deeply touched to discover that good ol’ Vai was truly a canine hero. He had literally hundreds of fans, even though the 13-year old canine who succumbed to cancer never personally met most of them.

Some of the first people to react to Vai’s passing were the heads and staff of the planning and health departments of Majlis Badaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ).

Even though many of them personally never kept dogs as their pets, they deeply sympathised with my loss.

They all had seen Vai in action on video helping me get out of my bed in the mornings, opening my door in front of me and running up and down the stairs on errands with important items in his mouth.

The video was screened in full at MBPJ’s full board meeting in front of our Mayor shortly after I became councillor.

The video screening was used as an educational tool to highlight the special role that canines play in the lives of the handicapped.

Dogs with special training can help the disabled achieve a higher quality of life through animal-assisted therapy.

Vai’s dream (and mine) was and is to see people with disabilities being accompanied by their specially trained service canines in public so that they don’t have to depend on human help all the time (which is becoming, sad to say, increasingly hard to find).

These canines should be regarded with the same respect and rights given to police, search-and-rescue and drug-sniffing dogs.

MBPJ is already going in the right direction by looking into giving free dog licences for disabled and elderly persons whose pets play a therapeutic role in their lives.

The Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam, I am pleased to report, is already giving disabled pet owners free dog licences and also a 50% discount for elderly persons.

Many of you advised me that one of the best ways to work through the grief of losing a pet is to get another one.

The process of healing sometimes can come about faster by focusing our attention positively on caring for a new dog.

Last week I found myself doing exactly that when I finally plucked up the courage to drive down to Seremban to visit a dog farm situated in the outskirts of the town.

It was love at first sight when I met a four-month-old sable Alsatian whose parents are German imports.

Named Zeus VK Haras I could immediately tell that this was the chosen one.

Except that he wasn’t going to be totally my dog but shared with my best able-bodied pal Andrew Martin.

What this means is that Zeus will play a dual role of being with Andrew during the night and being with me during the day, every day of the week.

For more than a week now, the little pup has already assumed his job brilliantly.

He is currently attending wheelchair-etiquette classes in my home.

This includes getting out of the path of my wheelchair but staying close by me at all times. He is also learning to pick up all sorts of things, including my valuables which he quickly hides in his crate.

When Zeus is not looking, however, Biman III my now senior SD will dash into his crate and steal all the items and retrieve them for me. Each time he does, it will accompany vehement protests from the pup.

The little boy doesn’t realise yet that one day he too will grow up to be a responsible SD like Biman.

Soo my Golden Retriever is happy to have a new pal in our home – as long as he doesn’t occupy his favourite place in my room which is under my bed.

As for Reba, Andrew’s Shetland Sheepdog which I babysit daily for him whilst he is at work, she’s just thrilled to have a new boyfriend to take home with her each night.

Vai had been her companion over the past six years after I retired him from his SD duties.

Reba, is however, cautious about Zeus’ size. The pup is almost as tall as Soo. She would only get near him to check on him with her nose when he is sound asleep.

Sleep on dear Zeus, my little pal. There’s a great task ahead of you as you slowly learn to fit into the giant paws of now a very legendary Rottie.

The End

Protest over dog cruelty - NST

Protest over cruelty to dogs

The group demonstrating outside the City Hall dog pound in Setapak.

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 30 animal lovers yesterday demonstrated outside the City Hall dog pound in Setapak and when they left, they took along two dogs and seven puppies.

The canines were up for adoption at the pound.

The protest was over what they saw on Wednesday on TV3's 360 programme where a pound worker yanked a dying dog with a loop on a stick.

A few members of the group were allowed into the pound to meet with Health Department director Dr Zainol Ariffin Pawanchee.

While the meeting was being held, the animal lovers outside found dead animals dumped in plastic bags in three shallow graves.
There were remnants of skulls and skin scattered everywhere, and flies and maggots were feeding on the exposed flesh.

Ironically there was a City Hall sign warning people not to throw rubbish in the area.

A further protest led to Zainol promising: "We will investigate. I will submit a report to the mayor in two weeks and he will decide on the action to be taken."

Zainol claimed the dead animals had been properly buried "but some individuals dug out the remains and tore the plastic bags just to make us look bad".

Pet owner Rosnah Hassan said: "Parliament must pass a law to protect animals. So many pets are abused."

Shenaaz Khan of Pet Positive was surprised City Hall did not have a copy of the Department of Veterinary Services guidelines on catching and exterminating stray dogs, that was endorsed last year for all local councils.

"The director himself asked me for a copy. How can they work without knowing the guidelines?" she asked.

There was some consolation for the group when it left at 1pm with the adopted canines. -- By Halim Said

Hee - A Wasted Lost Voice For The Disabled

I HAVE BEEN ASKED by quite a few people what my opinion is about Jelapang assemblyman Hee Yit Foong's decision to quit the DAP and throw her support behind Barisan Nasional as an Independent.

In addition to the many accusations against her, people are also saying that as a disabled person, Hee was ungrateful to the DAP for having chosen a disabled person for such a top job in the state of Perak.

I share the same grief with hundreds of thousands of Malaysians who are shocked and utterly disappointed by Hee's actions. In fact, I never realised that Hee was a disabled person until she resigned and everyone started to talk about her disability.

This makes me wonder if Hee ever championed the issues of disability at all when she was with the DAP. Just because someone is disabled, it doesn't mean that he or she need necessarily be aware about disability issues or have a passion about it.

There are many disabled organisation run by disabled persons currently and they too hardly do anything about disability rights and issues. So I am not surprised, really.

However, it must be said that Hee certainly lost a golden opportunity that has rarely been given to disabled persons by the former administration.

On a larger platform, Hee has certainly betrayed her constituents. The noble thing for her to do now is to resign her post to allow a by election to take place.

My sympathies are certainly NOT with her.

aNt
PET+BLOGSPOT

Hundreds demand Hee to quit - The Star

Quit now, crowd tells Hee (updated)
By CHAN LI LEEN

IPOH: Hundreds of people have turned up at the Jelapang market here Sunday to sign a petition demanding their assemblyman Hee Yit Foong quit her seat.

Within 90 minutes of the campaign starting at 9.30am Sunday, about 720 signatures were collected.

Perak DAP organising secretary Thomas Su Keong Siong said the petition would be handed over to the DAP-turned-independent assemblyman after this.

“If she does not want to accept the petition then we will hand it over to her parents at their home in Kanthan, Chemor,” he said.

Earlier when addressing the crowd, Su said the campaign was to force Hee to resign to pave way for a by-election.

“She has said that not everyone was against her, only those with ‘interests.’ If that is so, come back and face the people,” he added.

Sabri Abdul Rahman, 52, said he felt cheated by Hee, whom he had given his trust and vote to.

“We had voted for her and this is how she repays the people,” he said.

“I want her to quit. I want the Pakatan Rakyat state government back,” he added.

Hitting out at Hee, M. Vigneswary, 26, said, “We do not accept Barisan Nasional as the government; our Mentri Besar is Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin.”

Also present amongst the crowd were some who claimed to be childhood friends of Hee from her hometown in Kanthan.

One of them, Wong Fook, 56, said they had treated Hee like a sister and even sacrificed their own time and money to campaign for her during the 2004 general election.

“She has no loyalty. She has betrayed everyone by bringing down a whole government ... and a good one for that matter,” he said.

Hee, previously from DAP, announced she was quitting the party earlier this week. She said she would remain an independent assemblyman, but pledged her loyalty to Barisan.

Her resignation, along with those of former PKR assemblymen Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (Changkat Jering) and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang) led to Barisan declaring it had the majority in the state of Perak.

Both Barisan and Pakatan Rakyat have 28 state seats, but Sultan Azlan Shah did not give his consent to Pakatan’s request to dissolve the state assembly and call for fresh elections.

Barisan’s Datuk Dr Zambry Abd Kadir was sworn in as Mentri Besar on Friday, but Pakatan and its Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin -- who maintains he is still Mentri Besar-- said they would file a suit on Tuesday against Zambry at the High Court to declare his swearing-in as unconstitutional and illegal.