Thursday, September 08, 2011

Cat Cruelty Because Of Greed; Not Mental Illness

‘You don’t have to be crazy to be cruel’

Patrick Lee | September 7, 2011
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.

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