Sunday, December 12, 2010

Protem Malaysian Animal Welfare Advisory Council Formed, Reports SPCA Selangor

The following report is by SPCA Selangor's Saturday Snippets last week:
 

Inaugural Meeting of the Pro-tem Malaysian Animal Welfare Advisory Committee
The inaugural meeting (1/2010) of the pro-tem MAWAC was held at the Department of Veterinary Services headquarters in Putrajaya on 25th November 2010. 
The Committee comprises of representatives from the relevant government agencies and NGOs. By virtue of his position as Director General of Veterinary Services, Dato’ Dr Abd Aziz Bin Jamaluddin naturally assumed Chairmanship of the Committee, as will the DGs who succeed him. 
For the record, the mandate for the formation of the Committee has been obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture and Primary Industries but Cabinet endorsement will be obtained at a later date.

The inaugural meeting (1/2010) of the pro-tem MAWAC was held at the Department of Veterinary Services headquarters in Putrajaya on 25th November 2010. 

The Committee comprises of representatives from the relevant government agencies and NGOs. By virtue of his position as Director General of Veterinary Services, Dato’ Dr Abd Aziz Bin Jamaluddin naturally assumed Chairmanship of the Committee, as will the DGs who succeed him. For the record, the mandate for the formation of the Committee has been obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture and Primary Industries but Cabinet endorsement will be obtained at a later date.

As the scope is wide, it was decided that members be grouped into sub-committees for the purpose of more focused effort, namely Pet/ Companion Animals, Sports/ Recreational Animals, Food Animals (to be chaired by representative from DVS), Research/ Laboratory Animals, Wildlife (Note: wildlife in the wild- natural habitats- is to remain under Perhilitan).

The objectives are defined as follows:
• To identify and promote humane methods of stray control
• To facilitate collaboration between the NGOs and other relevant agencies on matters related to stray animal control
• To strengthen collaboration between NGOs, government agencies and DVS in matters
regarding abuse and mistreatment of animals
• To promote responsible pet ownership among Malaysians
• To develop the Malaysian Animal Welfare Act
With the formation of the MAWAC, the SPCA hopes that Animal Welfare receives due consideration in all animal-related concerns and Responsible Handling of Animals becomes the norm in our Society.

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1 comment:

arif said...

Dear Ant,

Nov 25th will remembered as important date for animal lovers. For me, this is amongst the strongest continuous effort made by the animal welfare groups to accord greater protection to animals in Malaysia. Congratulation to all of you.

Prevention from cruelty and promotion of humane treatment in the use of animals are pivotal in animal welfare. There is a need of stronger laws to assure the well-beings of animals and reduce their sufferings.

The obligation of humans and owners in ensuring the welfare of animals is not merely to providing food and water. It needs to extend to the providing of adequate shelter, protection from and treatment of injury and disease, and proper handling.

In my opinion, it is now the time for Malaysians to change their attitude towards animals to accord them greater protection.

Regards,
Arif Fahmi
Victoria Law School, Melbourne