Inching Closer To Malaysian Animal Welfare Act

DATELINE: PUTRAJAYA  

MALAYSIA IS ALL THE MORE CLOSER NOW THAN SHE EVER WAS BEFORE IN HAVING HER FIRST ANIMAL WELFARE ACT.

THE MOVE WILL PUT THE NATION IN PAR WITH MANY COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD AND IN THE REGION THAT ALREADY HAVE LAWS TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF ANIMALS. 


This was confirmed after the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) held its first protem committee meeting at its headquarters here earlier this afternoon.

The committee is being called the Animal Welfare Advisory Council or AWAC.

Once officially formalised, the group is expected to give increased powers to the DVS in order to take effective action against acts of animal cruelty all over the country.  

More than half a dozen nongovernmental organisations were present for the very first meeting of its kind.

They included PETPOSITIVE from Kuala Lumpur, SPCA Selangor and Noah's Ark of Ipoh and Johor as well as Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) from Penang.

Dr Aziz: A milestone

"We have achieved a milestone with our first meeting today," said an elated Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Jamalludin, the director-general of the DVS who chaired the meeting.

"This gives us a much-needed mandate that will eventually lead to an animal welfare bill in Parliament," he added.

Dr Aziz, who mooted the idea of AWAC, was delighted with the room filled with animal activists of more than 30 people. 

He fielded many questions and comments from them during an almost three-hour session.

These also included some direct criticisms against the DVS. 

Nine pedigrees killed in Kuala Langat

Some saw the DVS as an institution that was too slow to act on previous cases of animal cruelty.

According to Dr Aziz, the next crucial step for AWAC is to get the new committee members endorsed by the Cabinet.

This will be done as soon as possible, he promised.

Once that is out of the way, AWAC will feverishly start working on the all-important Animal Bill in order to present it for the next  Parliamentary sitting in 2011. 

He said with everyone working together, Malaysia could very well have an Animal Act by the start of 2012 or even earlier!

AWAC will cover five issues under subcommittees. 

They are pet animal companions; sports and recreational animals; animals related to food; animals in research and laboratories and wild animals.

Whilst everyone were in high spirits at the meeting, some animal NGOs decided to take a more cautious approach to the news. 

SAM was all thumbs up for the first meeting but told PET+BLOGSPOT that they preferred to take a "wait-and-see approach" before saying anything more.

However for Noah's Ark Ipoh, it was good news all the way. 

A representative said that she just couldn't wait for AWAC to get started.       


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