Saturday, September 25, 2010

Group cries foul over killing of dogs at farm - Malay Mail Online

Group cries foul over killing of nine dogs at poultry farm

Pix courtesy by ILTC
MALAY MAIL ONLINE
Friday, September 24th, 2010 17:54:00

BANTING: Yet another group has come forward to express their dissatisfaction over the actions of Kuala Langat District Council officers, who last Sunday had put nine dogs, belonging to the main lawyer suspect in the quadruple murder of cosmetics millionaire Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya and her three aids.

Committee members of the Independent Living and Training Centre (ILTC) today held a protest in front of Majilis Kuala Langat building to address their dissatisfaction against the council for euthanising the nine dogs, comprising six Rottweilers, two Dalmatians and one Bulldog, at the poultry farm at Gadong during investigations into the murders.

During the protest, members assembled outside the building carried several signs condemning the killing of the dogs and questioned the council's authority in taking such measures.

Following the protest, a meeting was held between ILTC and Kuala Langat district council president Abdul Razak Jaafar on the matter.

During the meeting, ILTC committee members wanted to know why the council did not consult with the Department of Vetirinary Services (DVS) or other animal welfare groups such as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA)  to take the dogs away instead of putting them to sleep.

They also wanted serious action to be taken against those involved in putting the dogs down and an assurance this incident would not be repeated in future.

“We want to know why they killed the nine dogs just like that. This is an unacceptable and a cruel act," ILTC  president Francis Siva said when met with reporters after the meeting.

“I feel the council needs education on this. Dogs are important to us, as they help us disabled in terms of security and they make our lives easier as the dogs are trained to help us in our daily activities," he added.

Francis stated the Centre was upset with the council's seeming lack of understanding and again called for the Selangor Government to take action against those responsible for the dog's death.

He questioned why the killing of the dogs was carried out on a quiet Saturday, without anyone's knowledge, stating that such action can be deemed as suspicious.

Francis's call was echoed by ILTC secratary Gurdip Kaur.

Stressing on the importance of dogs, Guldip spoke of a previous incident when her home was almost robbed.
She said, “one day, there was an attempted robbery at my house and my dog came to lick my leg to indicate that someone was at the window . I take care of my dogs like they are my children and they do listen to their owners when they are trained."

ILTC committee member Hajjah Khairozy also related a similar experience three  years ago when she told The Paper That Cares that if it was not for a dog she would not be alive today.

She said the dog barked constantly in front of her house to alert her to the fact her house was on fire and said, "even my neighbors were not aware that my house was on fire.  I am blessed to be alive today because of a dog," she said.

ILTC were advised to lodge a police report on the matter by Kuala Langat district ASP Nor Imran Abd Rahman.

Meanwhile, Abdul Razak told reporters the  reason why the dogs were put to sleep was because they were found to be a danger to police carrying out the murder investigations, and so he said the dogs were given lethal injections.

“The dogs tried attacking the police, and it was too dangerous so we had no choice. We tried contacting DVS to transfer the dogs, but we could not get hold of them at that point," he explained, adding council officers thus had no choice but to take immediate action.

PET+BLOGSPOT NOTE: Francis Siva is also Adviser to the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (PETPOSITIVE).

The press conference was also organised by Petpositive. 



PET+BLOGSPOT is an ACTIVE ONLINE BLOG of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive). We strive to keep our reports and stories CURRENT, ACCURATE and RELIABLE. We offer both local and foreign news on animals, disability and the elderly. PET+BLOGSPOT was first established in October 2007. Our hits since then is now 55,000 and counting. PET+BLOGSPOT is updated daily. Sometimes even twice and three times a day. Kindly take note that views expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of PETPOSITIVE. You may also visit our Webpage by browsing: www.petpositive.com.my You can also find us in Facebook as PETPOSITIVE EMPOWERMENT. Thank you for your support.

No comments: