MBI Defiant Over Dog-Shootings

Here's a report from The Star yesterday where the Ipoh City Council (MBI) seems to have finally responded to their dog-shooting massacre on October 30th.

According to the newspaper, they defended their killings of the dogs and claimed that the animals were not licensed. 

Their response, of course, was before the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) came out with their stance condemning the shooting of dogs.

Yesterday, the head of the DVS Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Jamaluddin said that dog-shootings were not only totally unnecessary but very dangerous. 

He said that if at all dogs are shot, it should be done in very exceptional cases - and only with the approval and close supervision by the DVS. 

With the news of a ban on all dog-shooting in Malaysia now, we can only wonder what the MBI will say now?

Tell us what you think in our COMMENTS section below.

Meanwhile, the Friday meeting with MBI officials and Petpositive and other animal rights groups will only be confirmed today. 

Member of Parliament for Ipoh Barat M Kulasegaran, who is arranging the special meeting says he hopes to get some details today.  

PET+BLOGSPOT

Use darts to put down strays, council urged

IPOH: The Ipoh City Council (DBI) should use tranquilliser darts instead of bullets when putting down strays, the Ipoh Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) said.

Its adviser Dr Goh Hue Lang said there was always a danger that a bullet might accidentally hit a passerby.
Condemning the fatal shooting of a licensed therapy dog at Taman Merdeka here recently,

Dr Goh said it was unfortunate that the council decided to gun it down.

“Tranquilliser darts should be used to sedate a dog if its owner cannot be immediately found,” she said yesterday. “Only after all efforts to contact the owner fail can the council put it down humanely.”

Dr Goh noted that the ISPCA had been advocating the use of tranquilliser darts for more than 20 years but nothing positive had come out of it.

On Oct 29, a dog named Spunk belonging to a 75-year-old woman, was killed by council dog shooters.
“I hope they learnt a lesson from the public uproar over the incident,” she said, adding that a dog too had a right to live.

The council in a statement here yesterday defended its action in putting down the dog.

It claimed that all five dogs that were killed that day were not licensed.

Meanwhile, here is a report and a letter in The Star today. The Star makes no mention of "a ban on dog-shooting" by the Department of Veterinary Services.

Thursday November 11, 2010

Perak mulling use of tranquilliser darts on strays

IPOH: The Perak government has asked all local councils in the state to study the feasibility of using tranquilliser darts to put down strays.

However, Local Government committee chairman Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon conceded that the high cost of the darts could hamper its use.

”We will look into the technical aspects (of using the darts), whether it is feasible and cost-effective,” he said after visiting the century-old Paloh Khoo Miu Temple here yesterday.

Dr Mah was commenting on the call by the Ipoh Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for authorities to use the darts rather than real bullets to put down strays.

The ISPCA said this would cut down the possibility of guns misfiring and hitting innocent bystanders.
The concern surfaced after city council enforcers shot a 10-year-old licensed therapy dog in Taman Merdeka near here, recently.

The dog, which belonged to a 75-year-old retired teacher, was left unattended while she went into her house to get toilet paper to clean it.

In PUTRAJAYA, the Veterinary Services Department expressed concern and frustration over the killing of the dog.

Department director-general Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Jamaluddin said the use of firearms continued even after a national seminar in May 2008 and guidelines on the capture of stray animals were issued to all municipal council officers, NGOs and state veterinary officers.

Dr Abdul Aziz said the department had stopped using firearms in 2008 as a means to control strays as it was found to be inhumane.

In SHAH ALAM, the Selangor state assem-bly heard that dog catching contractors engaged by the Sepang Municipal Council had caught 20,000 dogs in one month earlier this year.

“This means they caught an average of 667 dogs a day,” said Sungai Pelek assemblyman Yap Ee Wah.
Yap, who was debating Selangor’s 2011 budget, said the contractors had earned a hefty RM700,000 for this as they were paid RM35 for every dog caught. He told reporters later the 20,000 dogs were allegedly caught only in the Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi zone.

Thursday November 11, 2010

Take away ‘licence to kill’

I REFER to the recent reports of the shooting of Spunk, the therapy dog of an elderly lady by the Ipoh City Council dog shooters.

These so-called officers have a duty to catch dogs with collars and send them to the pound to be identified and returned. Laziness is the root cause of these shootings.

The council obviously does not understand the owner’s feelings at losing their precious pets, which over the years have become part of the family.

To them, the shooting of a pet is like killing a family friend in cold blood. The authorities must get to the root of the problem and stop this barbaric practice immediately.

CLAIRE THAMBU,


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