PETPOSITIVE NEWSFLASH!
THE STRAY DOG THAT SUFFERED ABUSE AT THE TRAIN STATION IN KEPONG RECENTLY HAS BEEN FINALLY FOUND.
aNt's aNgle:
DATELINE PETALING JAYA: First, A "Big Thank-You" to all of you who took part in our recent poll. You gave us a thumping "NO" to a dog being mistreated outside the KTMB train station in Kepong, Selangor.
There is no acceptable excuse to treat any living thing with such cruelty, no matter what, you said.
For this, we applaud you!
And so, another dog ends up getting brutalised.
And the whole familiar, and rather sickening rigmarole, gets played out yet again.
Animal rights' groups - those that are properly registered as well as phantom ones - seething with "holy anger" rush out into war at once with the authorities.
They customarily shoot first and then asking questions later, their responses now becoming even more predictable: blame anyone and everyone and dotingly by all means, defend all dogs no matter at what cost.
They include humans in the likes of children, women, the elderly and others. Everything else is secondary or worse a non issue.
Their debates among themselves in blogs and chats are at best, aimless.
Everyone gets condemned, from politicians trying to make a difference to people contemplating activism for animal rights.
Even established organisations that make it their business to deal with animal rights and welfare issues are not spared the righteous rod.
These include the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), and not to mention, PETPOSITIVE.
I've had to face the brunt of one or two of the criticisms myself in this Blog.
But the great part in doing the work that I do, I've learnt, is that for each person who wishes bad on you, there are always double and treble that number of people who encourage you on.
She was appalled at a comment from another animal interest blog that had allowed nasty remarks about me to be printed there.
The comments were meant to not only to run me down but also went on to say that they hoped that I would get more disabled than I am now.
"Such hypocrisy from someone who professes to be an animal-lover," the writer observed. "How can anyone say they love animals when they are devoid of feelings for human beings; let alone regarding the handicapped community!" Added the writer.
"Don't they realise that they themselves or their loved ones can easily become disabled one day? And who will they turn to then?"
But for some animal "activists", the verbal wars will never cease.
And all this under the shameless cowardice of anonymity rather than putting their real identities and be boldly counted for the honour of the animals they claim to defend.
And as for the powers-that-be, it is high time they make a change too. Not to do so would dangerously risk them becoming an irrelevant entity.
They must realise that Malaysian society is not what is used to be before.
Dogs are certainly among their priority list. They are no more viewed as pests alone that is, a disease spreader.
At the same time, people are also more concerned about the spread of disease among the communities especially newer threats.
Councils - and NGOs - must therefore be able to strike an acceptable balance between the two.
Canines are playing more positive roles in the lives of pet owners.
They not only protect their homes and family but they are increasingly playing a therapeutic role in the lives of countless of Malaysian families so much so that dogs have earned themselves the status of being another member of the family unit.
Which brings us to the issue of stray dogs, and in particular, the canine that was subjected to torture at the train station.
What happened to the stray dog is the chief reason why I am not convinced about all the good proposals of stray capture and release programme being introduced in Malaysia.
Many tough but basic questions remain unanswered by local animal activists who are pushing for such an idea.
- When these animals are let go again after being spayed who takes care of them?
- Where will they sleep and find food?
- How will their medical needs be met? Who will catch them and take them to a veterinarian?
- Very importantly, how does one stop them from being a hazard to the public and a nuisance in neighbourhoods?
The best answer to me for now is to either find them a loving home or painlessly put them down as what scores of countries worldwide do.
As for monsters wielding sticks, there will always be many of them waiting to prey on their next victim.
The dog at the train station is not the only story of a victim of cruelty.
Remember the horrible incident of the little child sometime back that had a stick shoved through her privates right up to her heart?
That demon was never caught.
Neither was the one that did the same to another little girls using brinjals instead of a stick.
So until animal groups can come up with a real workable plan for animals for governments to act, the stories of animal cruelty is realistically not going to go away for a long while yet.
And til then, more dogs will continue to suffer because of human ignorance.
Righteous groups will continue to point fingers at everyone else but themselves as possible agents of change whilst others still, in all this circus, will find their way to unscrupulously make profit with each bad incident.
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3 comments:
Hi Anthony,
I know it's not easy to do TNR and there will be cases of animal cruelty for a long time to come but we have to start somewhere and it all begins with education and the government's action i.e govt bodies themselves such as Majlis, DVS, and others should ammend the current law on higher penalty on animal abusers, animal abandoners and pass an act for those who buy/adopt to spay/neuter in order to obtain license. That is a good start but it has to start somewhere and why not start with the government, of course the independent rescuers/bodies are already practising TNR but it will take a much longer time and probably way more difficult to achieve sero stray population in the near future if the govt does not start doing something. I just understand why the councillors who play an important role in Majlis like yourself not push for a reformation in Animal Act. You can help us change the current situation and although i also do read a lot of bad comments from other websites, i prefer to think that it'a because the public are frustrated and choose to vent their anger that way and i'm not saying that it's right but maybe it's high time that the govt shud do something. Education will educate the public to be more tolerant of animals and Malaysia being the islamic nation need to educate the public mainly because of the much argued 'haram' notion on dogs. Why not you, Mr.Anthony, start the ball rolling by initiating the move?
Hi Anonymous,
Thank you for your reply and for putting your point across politely.
It is clear that you are a great supporter of TNR and I respect you for that.
I also greatly respect all the wonderful and tireless work done by animal rescuers, especially those who do it in the background and want no name or glory for what they do.
I wish above all my heart that no animals can be put down. However, in our present Malaysian society, I honestly don't see how this can really be done.
It will have to take a great deal of awareness raising and education for such a thing to happen here.
As much as local councils have an obligation to treat all animals with kindness, they also have a duty to keep our environment (that is, you and your loved ones safe from diseases that can possibly be transmitted from animals to humans.)
It is for this reason why the health departments of local councils can't leave the proliferation of stray dogs in our environment unchecked.
As I mentioned earlier it is for the very reason that the dog at train station suffered such abuse that I don't see releasing animals as strays as a viable alternative in bringing justice to animals. They will always be subjected to cruelty and a painful death by human beings.
As much as local councils must protect the rights of animals, they also have an obligation to protect the rights and freedoms of people who have no animals.
The best place for stray dogs, I believe, is in the home with a loving human family who can take care of them and NOT in the streets where they will forever suffer hunger, sickness and abuse.
Nonetheless, your support for TNR is noted and has been forwarded to the people in power in Selangor for their careful consideration.
What is important is for people who support TNR programmes to work harder to come up with more and more success stories and viable ways to implement it in order to finally convince the government of the day of its credibility.
TNR proponents should also educate local governments about its success, not curse them and insult them.
End of part 1
(Start of part 2)
Being frustrated is no right for anyone to behave like a hooligan. Baseless accusations and foul language only make the local authorities close their doors and hearts, become defensive and refuse to listen to reason.
In the end, it is the animals who suffer - not the so-called activists or groups trying a cheap shot at fame and fortune for themselves.
Your suggestion to work towards creating tougher animal cruelty laws at the local council levels is a great one.
It is not one, at least in MBPJ, that hasn't been thought about before.
However, please remember that it is one thing to have councillors to care for animals but quite another scene when the one animal rights caring individual has to convince the rest of the councillors of his or her convictions at the meetings.
Awareness must be created in everybody - from mayors and governors right through to each and every councillor, staff and worker at the dog pounds.
The Canine Advisory Teams (CAT) in MBPJ and MPK have made giant inroads among local councils in animal welfare and rights.
CAT MBPJ and MPK are the only two local councils in the whole of Malaysia to have a monthly meeting to sit down and talk about how best to deal with canines.
Since Merdeka, this has never happened. CAT MBPJ now involves all 12 councils in the state of Selangor. We have organised a major dog forum, workshop, re-organise dog pounds and even went dog catching with the local council to show them how to do it the right way.
We are also working toward having a spay campaign run by a number of councils in Shah Alam very soon.
There is much more coming in terms of education as you pointed out in your response.
Have any of the critics of CAT done any better other than just releasing mere hot air in blogs.
If animal NGOs are fighting against each other, how do you expect local councils to take any one of them seriously?
In the end, once again as always only the dogs suffer.
Kind regards,
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