ALL IT TOOK WAS FIFTEEN MINUTES.
AND HISTORY WAS CREATED FOR ANIMAL- LOVERS IN THE CITY OF IPOH - ONCE FAMOUS FOR ITS TIN MINE INDUSTRY.
That's the incredibly short time that the Ipoh City Council (MBI) gave the animal and disability rights delegation (that's us!) when we met them yesterday - after making us wait for almost an hour!
However, what we initially thought was going to turn out to be a a disastrous event amazingly worked to our favour when MBI secretary Datuk Abdul Md Ariff started to warm up to our concerns minutes before he left.
He announced the immediate cessation of dog-shooting after we unequivocally expressed our outrage at the shooting-to-death of a therapy dog belonging to an elderly PETPOSITIVE member on October 30th last month.
The groups that were represented at yesterday's meeting were Petpositive from Kuala Lumpur, Independent Living and Training Centre, Rawang, Selangor, SPCA Selangor, Noah's Ark of Ipoh (protem), Ipoh SPCA and Ipoh Animal Welfare Society.
There were three representatives from the Department of Veterinary Services from Perak who played an instrumental role in helping the council to decide on the ban on dog-shooting.
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| Ipoh, here we come! |
The journey to Ipoh from Petaling Jaya began at 7.30 in the morning. Francis Siva from the ILTC (left) and I were worried about our stomachs playing up at the last minute. Fortunately for us, no such disaster happened.
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| Say "cheese" everybody! |
The news-starving cameramen insisted that we take a photo-shoot outside the MBI before our meeting. We cordially obliged not knowing what was going to happen next.
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| Powwow before the battle |
Yours Truly as leader of the group had to make sure we clarified our goals of what we wanted that money. No point in contradicting anyone and confusing the council.
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| No telling what was going to happen |
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| Memorandum Handover |
Datuk Rahim makes the first move. He walks down from his podium to greet his guests in wheelchairs. We take the opportunity to collectively hand over the memorandum.
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| The press conference after the meeting |
The media couldn't wait to talk to us. We announce the good news - half believing ourselves what we had heard. The MBI responded warmly. Dog-shooting was off. They said they were sorry and would get in touch with the elderly woman who lost Spunk. Amazingly, a stray dog had given his life so that other strays could live on without fear of being brutally murdered.
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| Lunch with Noah's Ark, Ipoh |
Had a terrific Chinese lunch. From left: Malika Ramiah, President of Noah's Ark, Dr Ranjit Kaur (Treasurer) and Francis Siva (Petpositive Adviser and President of ILTC.)
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| "V" is for VICTORY! |
Another one for the album outside the Chinese restaurant. (Far left: Vice President of Noah's Ark Jayamalar Jeyaratnam, Noah's Ark animal rescuer Victor (in singlet) and standing second to right, ILTC volunteer.)
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| At limestone heaven: ISPCA shelter |
No victory can be complete if not shared with a special friend. This little pup from the ISPCA is moving on to his new owners soon. We simply couldn't resist the temptation to have him in our picture to make it - and our trip complete. :)
PET+BLOGSPOT is the ONLINE BLOG of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive). Our reports and stories are 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 70,000 and going strong! PET+BLOGSPOT is updated daily. Sometimes even twice or 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. Please sign up as a FOLLOWER of this Blog if you haven't done so already in order to show us your kind support. Thank you!
1 comment:
A dog takes down the local council. Fitting.
From Petpositive Empowerment
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