Wednesday February 3, 2010
Selangor to build modern pound
By CHRISTINA LOW
christinalow@thestar.com.my
THE Selangor government will build a modern pound to house stray animals caught by local councils.
The pound, which will have proper facilities for animal care, would alleviate the problem of overcrowding in some of the pounds managed by the local authorities in Selangor.
Selangor health, estate workers affairs, poverty eradication and caring government committee chairman Dr Xavier Jeyakumar said the state government had sought the assistance of the land office to provide a suitable area for the pound.
The modern pound would be utilised mainly by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) and Klang Municipal Council (MPK) as well as their neighbouring councils.
“When ready, the pound would not only be a home to all the stray cats and dogs but also provide care for the animals requiring rehabilitation,” Dr Jeyakumar said.
He added that the new pound could also be opened to students to enable them to see how animals were taken care of.
Dr Jeyakumar said the number of stray cats and dogs in the pounds increased during every festive holiday period as owners neglected their pets when they left for holidays or headed back to their hometowns.
“The stray animals caught by the local governments in Selangor number in the thousands each month.
“If you are not prepared to take on the responsibility of caring for your pet, you should think twice before taking them home,” he said.
Many pets were also not micro-chipped, hence making it difficult for the authorities to inform their owners of their lost pets.
He added that the long-term plan was to work on some sort of licensing for cats and to make micro-chipping compulsory for all pets.
Dr Jeyakumar was speaking at a press conference attended by animal welfare NGOs to inform the public of the ways they could care for their pets during the upcoming festive break.
Save A Stray founder Jacqueline Tsang said firecrackers could pose a danger to pets, especially dogs, as the noise they emitted was about 110 to 115 decibels, which was several times louder than the normal noise levels that the animals could withstand.
During such times, Tsang said the animals would bark endlessly, run and dig holes in the grass, putting all their effort into trying to get away from the noise.
“If the owners are not around during the period, these animals would run out of the house and would not be found by their owners when they returned home,” said Tsang, who advised owners to either check their pets into a boarding centre or keep them in their house to avoid the problem.
PAWS shelter manager Edward Lim said that the last festive period, the shelter received more than 200 cats as the owners could no longer cope with caring for them.
“It’s not fair to them (cats and dogs) that when we are happily celebrating an occasion, these poor animals have to suffer and get surrendered,” Lim said.
Lim suggested that pet owners look into neutering their pets to prevent overpopulation as the procedure only cost between RM90 and RM200.
The meeting was also attended by MBPJ councillor Anthony Thanasayan, who also chairs the Canine Advisory Team (Cat) in the council, Petpositive assistant secretary Shenaaz Khan, resident Pat Lim and Klang Municipal Council (MPK) acting health director Zulkifli Abbas.
Thanasayan said the MBPJ had formed the Cat team and the concept was now being introduced to the MPK. The council hopes that with the team, it can prevent animal mistreatment and be able to educate pet owners on ways of caring for their pets as the team works closely with NGOs.
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