‘You don’t have to be crazy to be cruel’
An animal rights activist says SPCA is wrong in calling for psychiatric treatment for Petknode owners.
PETALING JAYA: You can be sane and still be cruel to animals, an animal rights activist said.Petpositive president Anthony Thanasayan said the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) was wrong in assuming that only the mentally sick would be cruel to animals.
“The SPCA has no idea what they’re talking about,” he told FMT. “Anybody can be cruel to animals, and he does not have to be a mental patient. If everyone had to be put through psychiatric evaluation, then nobody would be punished.”
He was referring to a statement by SPCA Selangor demanding that the owners of errant pet boarding company Petknode be subject to psychiatric treatment.
Dozens of pet owners were shocked to find their pets in severely malnourished states last week after they had left them in Petknode’s care during the Hari Raya holidays.
At least 13 cats died, allegedly because Petknode staff did not feed them for nine days.
Petknode apologised yesterday through a Facebook note, saying lack of resources had prevented the company from taking care of all the cats in its care.Anthony said the owners of Petknode suffered from greed, not mental illness.
He said SPCA’s statement might set a dangerous precedent.
“It will give the public the impression that people with psychiatric problems cannot have pets,” he said.
On the contrary, he added, pets were beneficial to the mentally ill.
He said a number of Petpositive members were doctors with experience in dealing with mental patients.
“I can understand what SPCA is saying, but they must qualify that statement carefully, and be specific,” he said.
PET+BLOGSPOT is the ONLINE BLOG of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association or Petpositive. Our 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 are now 150,000 and ever increasing! PET+BLOGSPOT is updated daily. Kindly note that views expressed in PET+BLOGSPOT 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 under 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 for our work. Thank you!
No comments:
Post a Comment