aNt's aNgle: Majlis Perbandaran Klang (MPK) came under fire recently for allegedly being cruel to some 130 dogs under their care at their pound in the royal town.
Those hurling the brickbats were a group of animal lovers led by one or two animal NGOs.
But were the accusations true?
I was invited by the Jabatan Kesihatan of MPK to visit the "controversial" dog pound to verify the accusations against the local council.
I went there in my capacity as Chairman of the Canine Advisory Team or CAT under the umbrella of the Petaling Jaya City Council.
The MPK extended their invitation to me particularly because they have also been participating at our monthly CAT meetings since last year together with the various local councils in Selangor.
I was accompanied by an expert from the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), a long-time animal rescuer from Klang and the Acting Secretary of a national, non profit animal rights society from Kuala Lumpur.
I was relieved to find out that the more than 50 dogs and puppies that were there at the time of my visit were in satisfactory condition.
None of the canines were distressed or writhing in pain as I had expected to see based on the accusations by the group. In fact many of them were rested and quiet - they hardly barked at us or at the presence of the media that were there.
The place was not only very clean but the dogs were wagging their tails and licking the staff at the pound - hardly a scene of cruelty of abuse.
Dogs don't lie. Many of the accusations hurled at the MPK were also not true.
If they did - or have something to hide about - why did they allow these complainants access into their pounds?
I'm not saying that there aren't issues with the MPK. There are - as there probably are points of improvement in every single pound in Malaysia.
But there obviously was and is an attempt to exaggerate or make a mountain out of a molehill of the MPK's dog pound for reasons best known to the quarters that blew up this story.
What I don't understand is why make enemies of local councils when we want to help animals under their care? Isn't it like shooting ourselves in the foot when we do this?
The MPK was very friendly to us when we came a calling. They immediately offered to stop catching dogs at night and also said that they would not catch puppies anymore.
Earlier today, Dr Thiba Rajoo from the DVS together with the animal rescue expert in Klang visited the dog pound to put things right.
Dr Thiba told PET+BLOGSPOT that the DVS had a most fruitful visit by the MPK officers and pound staff who did everything to help her carry out her professional duty.
The DVS provided three bottles of disinfectant to the pound staff and gave them directions on how to use them to keep the MPK van and kennels clean on a daily basis.
The Government veterinarian also taught the boys how to separate dogs according to their age groups, health status, mothers and pups and pets. They did this at once after the briefing.
Animals that were extremely sick were identified and then separated to be euthanised by the DVS next week whilst puppies in the pound would be surrendered to Paws Animal Welfare Society.
Pound workers would be provided with marking colour sticks of different colours so that they can accurately mark dogs for proper identification.
The canines can then be kept more effectively so as to allow more room for them. Dr Thiba says that she also hopes to provide MPK with some of the mobile wire cages that was used in the Pulau Ketam rescue work by SPCA Selangor.
"I will speak to SPCA Chairman Christine Chin about letting us use them on a temporary basis to accomodate puppies and their mothers, etc." Says Dr Thiba.
"Pound workers were also taught the proper way to handle puppies such as not dragging them with the wire loop," she adds.
Pound staff learnt how to transfer dogs from one place to another in the right way so as to minimise stress and injury on the animals." She concluded.
Well done, Dr Thiba!
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