Time to pressure the DVS - the malaysian insider

Dog lovers accuse authorities of uncaring attitude

Sheena with her ribs sticking out. — Pictures courtesy of SPCA

By Boo Su-Lyn KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 — Dog lovers have accused the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), as the sole government arm in charge of animal welfare, of not protecting dogs.
They point out that only one case of animal abuse prosecution has been filed in the last five years.
“There’s lack of enforcement in the prosecution department,” said Christine Chin, chairman of the non-governmental organisation Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
A total of 657 animal cruelty cases were reported last year with 90 per cent involving dogs, although none was prosecuted, according to SPCA marketing and communications manager Jacinta Johnson-Chan in a recent media report.
“I think DVS has no will to prosecute abusers,” Christine told The Malaysian Insider. “There are a few cases where the evidence is quite strong that the animal is abused, but they’d rather give them warning and a lot of chances.”
The DVS has come under fire for being indifferent towards animal abuse.
In a horrific case of dog abuse where Sheena, a German Shepherd was starved by her owner till she had to be put down in 2005, the DVS reportedly did nothing though a neighbour had telephoned the agency three times about Sheena’s abuse.
By the time DVS officers seized the dog, it was too late to save her. Sheena’s owner walked off with a RM100 fine.
In another case five years ago, a pet shop called Pet Safari was alleged to have allowed a sick dog under its care to die without giving it medical attention for two days.
Despite the availability of witnesses and photographic evidence, Shah Alam DVS director Tee Thian See had said his department would not take any action because “they did not see anything”.
“Their (DVS) priority is not cats and dogs; it’s livestock,” said M. Mala, co-ordinator of canine welfare initiative Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better (MDDB). “They ensure livestock is not affected by disease.”
The DVS’s mission is to provide quality veterinary services as an assurance for public health and sustainable livestock industry for the sake of human welfare, as stated in its official website.
Four out of its five purported objectives are related to the livestock industry. The DVS is under the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry.

A starving and abused Sheena.

“They (DVS) do a good job with livestock, but certainly not dealing with dogs... there have ben (sic) countless cases of dog abuse by the Malaysian public, AND the councils...," Joane Sharmila, a 30-year-old editor from Kuala Lumpur, said in an email interview. "Dogs starving in pounds, dogs left to rot in pounds, dogs bludgeoned to death instead of being euthanised? Nothing at all has been done to address these problems.
“In short, DVS sanctions all these acts of cruelty,” she added.
Another dog lover, Carolynn Thaw, told The Malaysian Insider in an email interview that she does not trust the DVS with protecting the welfare of dogs.
"I don't think much of them cos (sic) after all the cries for help from animal lovers, the DG had the cheek to even suggest using strays as dog meat... and the guy’s a vet!” the 36-year-old said.
DVS deputy director-general Datuk Dr Ahmad Suhaimi Omar suggested last March that people should be allowed to eat dogs kept in pounds to check the number of strays.
“They are animals, just like chickens or goats,” he told a forum on effective animal pound management organised by the Petaling Jaya City Council’s canine advisory team.
Azimah Mohd Othman, a 45-year-old personal assistant, said an absolute no when asked if she trusted the DVS.
“Trust? You must be kidding! They are not there to help any of the dogs... no way am I going to trust any of them with anything!” she blasted in an email interview.
However, NGO Petpositive president Anthony Thanasayan offered a different perspective, telling The Malaysian Insider that animal groups have bullied the DVS a bit too much.
“When you say you can’t trust them (DVS) anymore, you’re damning them,” he said in a phone interview.
“When they don’t do something, you don’t damn them and say go to hell,” he said. “It’s our responsibility to educate the DVS, pressure them, lobby them, but don’t damn them.”
Nonetheless, Anthony, who is also chairman of canine advisory teams of the Petaling Jaya City Council and the Klang Municipal Council, said that the DVS ought to take more action and realise that animal lovers are more demanding now.
“They (DVS) shouldn’t just care about poultry,” he told The Malaysian Insider. “DVS should show more support.”

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