Time Running Out For 100 Cats As Protesters Go To The IGP

Source: Internet

PETPOSITIVE NEWS UPDATE:

ANGER IS MOUNTING among animal-lovers why the police have yet to charge the operators of a pet hotel in Petaling Jaya of cheating and theft for the death and neglect of their cats under their care during the recent Hari Raya and Merdeka holidays.  

More than 100 felines are reported to be still missing people since their owners lodged police reports at the Sungai Buloh police station in Selangor. 

Criticisms are also being leveled at the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) in Putrajaya for not having taken action over the matter since the scandal was highlighted two days ago. 

 

The animal centre located in Damansara Damai has been operating illegally since 2009, said Petaling Jaya City Councillor Anthony SB Thanasayan to a packed press conference at the DVS headquarters yesterday. 

 

Animal NGOs led by Animal Rights Society (ROAR) president N Surendran (left) will be handing over a memorandum to the Inspector General of Police today demanding urgent action from the police to find the cats as well as to take action against the perpetrators.

 

"Time is running out for the cats and kittens as they have been starving for over 10 days," said Surendran to PET+BLOGSPOT this morning.

 

The protest takes place at 5pm this afternoon at the Lake Gardens entrance of the Bukit Aman police station.

 

"All concerned Malaysians for animal rights are cordially invited," said Surendran who is also Adviser to PETPOSITIVE.

 

Here is the latest report from Free Malaysia Today: 

IGP’s help sought in missing cats case

Stephanie Sta Maria | September 6, 2011

Desperate pet lovers and activists are demanding that Petknode owners reveal the whereabouts of 100 more cats and be prosecuted for their cruelty.

PETALING JAYA: Hundreds of pet lovers and animal rights activists will rally outside Bukit Aman this evening to seek Inspector-General of Police, Ismail Omar’s, assistance in recovering 100 missing cats that could be fighting for their lives.
The cats are among the hundreds that were left under the care of Petknode, an animal boarding facility in Damansara Damai, over the week-long Hari Raya Aidilfitri break.
The owners returned over the past weekend to discover that their pets had been abandoned for nine days without food or water, and were covered in their own waste. Thirteen of the 300 rescued cats are dead and many more are missing.
Petknode owners, Yushairi Khairuddin and Shahrul Azuwan Adanan, were brought in for questioning on Sunday evening but were released just hours later without being charged.
And now they are refusing to reveal the whereabouts of the 100 more missing cats. To make matters worse Sharul’s family reportedly cleaned out the Petknode premises and destroyed the evidence last night.
Over 100 activists and owners stormed the Damansara Damai police station late yesterday evening to demand that the police take immediate action in finding the missing felines and persecuting the duo. Fingers have also been pointing at the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) which has taken over the case.
But lawyer and PKR vice-president N Surendran told FMT that although the DVS is investigating the cruelty charge, the police are still responsible for investigating the missing cats case.
“The police are working on some leads but the problem is that the culprits have been released,” he said after joining the group at the police station last night.
“When DVS took over the investigations the police washed their hands off the case and now the men are free to do whatever they want. The two should have been held further.”
He added that the distraught group is demanding that the duo be charged with cheating and theft which carry a heavier penalty than a cruelty charge.
“But the Criminal Investigation Department has yet to classify it as such so I hope they do it soon,” he said. “This is a clear cut case of cheating and theft, and we want to see these monsters behind bars.”
“We also want the police to devote their full resources into locating the missing cats hence why we’re trying to meet the IGP later. It’s a race against time to save the cats which may be starving to death.”
Surendran further expressed dissatisfaction with the police for failing to take swift action when the issue first broke on Sunday morning.
Action must be taken against owners


While he noted that the officers were very cooperative he believed that more could have been done and that he wasn’t at all satisfied with the overall performance of the police.
But Surendran had stronger words for DVS and lashed out at its “pin-drop” silence over the issue.
“What are they doing?” he demanded. “There has been no information from them as to what action they are taking or planning to take.”
“They have been completely silent. DVS must announce that it will be charging the two men for cruelty…there is no two ways about it.”
So far DVS has only announced that the Animal Welfare Act to be tabled in Parliament next year would carry a fine of RM100,000 and a jail term of not more than six months for anyone found guilty of cruelty to animals.
But this won’t be enough for the group which was further enraged after a picture of Yushairi and Shahrul sitting in an unguarded room with a laptop at the police station was circulated online (photo above).
“It’s a damning picture and the police have to answer for the leniency they showed the two men,” Surendran said.
When asked about the possibility of Petknode’s owners carrying out their threat to sue the pet owners for trespassing, Surendran immediately shot down this possibility.
“It’s absolute rubbish, they have no case,” he said. “And they should be very careful about making such statements right now as they are already in very deep trouble.”

The following is an earlier report on FMT: 

 

Mistreated pets: ‘Lodge police reports’

Patrick Lee | September 5, 2011

Pet owners have been advised to treat the incident as a cheating case.

PETALING JAYA: Owners of the mistreated pets have been advised to lodge police reports against the errant caretaker of the animal boarding facility, Petknode.
Said Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better (MDDB) founder Wani Muthiah: “You have been cheated, have paid upfront, in the belief that (your pets) would be taken care of.”
“You need to lodge a report,” she told a press conference at a hotel here.
Nearly 200 people, including the affected pet owners and other members of the public, attended the press conference called to discuss about the ill-treatment of the pets.
Yesterday, the owners who left their pets at Petknode during the festive holiday were shocked to find many of their pets abused, missing or dead when they returned home.
The pets were found to have not been fed with food or water for the past nine days.
At least 13 of the pets, mostly cats, died of starvation. Two suspects have since been arrested over the case, but have been released late last night.

‘Enforcement very weak’
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) chairman Christine Chin, on the other hand, wanted pet owners to pressure the state government to slap 300 charges on Petknode under the Animal Act – one charge for every pet mistreated.
According to the Animal Act 1953 (2006 Amendment), offenders guilty of animal cruelty are liable to a RM200 fine or a six-month jail term, or both.
Chin also pointed out the lack of confidence in the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), the enforcement agency responsible for animal cruelty.
“The enforcement on animal cruelty is very weak… We’ve been working with the department for the past 20 years, but in the last 10, the DVS only prosecuted five (cases),” she said.
“We really want them (Petknode’s owners) in jail,” she said to cheers.
Chaos also reigned at the conference, with some of the public pointing fingers at various parties. A few also raised their voices angrily at the panel of NGOs gathered there.
One pet owner even accused the NGOs of inaction against animal cruelty.
“What have you been doing up to now?” he asked angrily.
Operating illegally
The NGOs replied that they had been active against these sort of cases, and that some of them were involved in springing the mistreated pets free.
But some in the crowd were not satisfied, saying they want to demonstrate outside the Damansara Damai or Sungai Buloh police station in their quest for answers.
Meanwhile, Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) councillor Anthony Thanasayan told FMT that Petknode had been operating illegally since 2009.
He said that MBPJ realised this today after going through its records.
“Petknode has been running its business for quite a number of years, but it hasn’t been paying for its (operational) licence or renewing it since 2009,” he said.
Anthony said that this recent development meant that MBPJ had every right to shut down Petknode.
He also confirmed that he had had a meeting with DVS director-general Dr Aziz Jamaluddin this afternoon.
He said that the MBPJ, together with the DVS, would conduct animal services inspections in the future.
Anthony added that prior to this, council officials had only checked pet shops and boarding places for “external areas”.
“They (MBPJ) checked for building approvals, compliances, obstruction to traffic… not animal treatment,” he said.