Owners want more dog-friendly playing fields in Klang Valley
2011/10/01KUALA LUMPUR: Dog owners as well as animal rights activists want every municipality or city council in the Klang Valley to have a dog park.
The move according to them would boost the physical and mental health of dogs, give dog owners a space to bond with their pets and boost Malaysia's image as a place foreign experts and expatriates would want to work and live in.
Dog owner Choy Seng Kah said such parks were essential for training dogs.
"A well-trained dog is a happy dog. Rain or shine, I come here to train my dog as the wide space allows dogs to exercise their limbs and try a variety of training activities.
"But this facility is still 6km away from my home in Section 17, Petaling Jaya," he said, adding that his friends living in Ampang. Selayang, Shah Alam and Subang Jaya have complained that there are no such facilities in their municipalities.
He said dogs confined and tied up for too long get moody, depressed and become self-destructive. There have been cases where dogs have turned on their owners or gnawed on their own limbs and injured themselves.
Animal rights activist Anthony Thanasayan agreed that such a move, properly executed, could improve the lives of many dogs and enhance their relationship with their owners.
"The key is getting the guidelines and key requirements in place," he said, adding that complaints of attacks, incessant barking and poor toilet training have reportedly dropped in neighbourhoods with dog parks around the world.
"The main guidelines include the mandatory requirement that owners pick up after their dogs and that dogs must be on a leash and under their owner's control at all times."
He said that even the best-trained dogs had a tendency to get excited and chase someone or something which can cause panic among the elderly, disabled and children.
"Even in the United States, there is a reluctance to open up dog parks. Dog parks have opened and closed because of irresponsible pet owners and the shortsightedness of councils, but now the authorities there are going into it cautiously," he said, adding that dogs there were kept on a leash, except for enclosures for dogs to roam in.
Animal lover Myza Nordin said dog parks were a great idea. However, she felt Malaysian owners still lacked awareness to allow their dogs to roam free.
"For now, the leash should be on as not all dogs are social to other dogs as well as humans.
"Only trained dogs which have docile and non-aggressive temperaments should be allowed to roam free and it is up to the owner to gauge this after training and bonding with the dog," she said, adding that she thought most owners had not done the necessary to be able to evaluate their dogs.
"There also should be two enclosures at a dog park. One for big dogs and another for the small dogs," she added.
Sabrina Yeap of Furry Friends Farm said that such enclosures should only allow one dog or dogs that are familiar with each other at the same time.
"The council could then collect a fee from such enclosures," she said.
Yeap added that the gates at Central Park should be closed at all times to prevent dogs from running out.
"If possible, there should be guards stationed there who can open and close the gates as well as keep an eye on the owners and dogs. They should also be trained on how to act when things get out of hand," she added.
The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association Malaysia (Rehda) Datuk Seri Michael Yam Kong Choy had mixed reactions on the idea of dog parks.
He said the parks would not be difficult to construct in gated and guarded neighbourhood where it would be funded by the residents' service fund. But in areas where the parks had to be surrendered back to the council, he doubted any council would want the burden of maintaining such a facility.
"Plus it would also turn into a park for a small segment of society which owns dogs or likes dogs.
"Developers currently have too much on their plates such as ensuring public transport connectivity and so forth, maybe a better option would be creating better sidewalks or pavements for residents to walk their dogs," he added.
He, however, agreed that creating such parks like Setia Eco Park or Desa Park City where dogs are allowed outdoors on leashes could attract more expatriates to buy or rent property in an area.
"If Malaysians start cultivating the right attitude by picking up after their dogs and always putting their animal on a leash, we could create such sustainable parks. But I don't see it happening soon," he added.
Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung said he wants to focus on improving the quality and availability of parks to Malaysians before looking into the issue of dog parks.
"The country has very little open space to begin with and I like to fix that," he added.
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Dog owner Choy Seng Kah said such parks were essential for training dogs.
"A well-trained dog is a happy dog. Rain or shine, I come here to train my dog as the wide space allows dogs to exercise their limbs and try a variety of training activities.
"But this facility is still 6km away from my home in Section 17, Petaling Jaya," he said, adding that his friends living in Ampang. Selayang, Shah Alam and Subang Jaya have complained that there are no such facilities in their municipalities.
He said dogs confined and tied up for too long get moody, depressed and become self-destructive. There have been cases where dogs have turned on their owners or gnawed on their own limbs and injured themselves.
Animal rights activist Anthony Thanasayan agreed that such a move, properly executed, could improve the lives of many dogs and enhance their relationship with their owners.
"The key is getting the guidelines and key requirements in place," he said, adding that complaints of attacks, incessant barking and poor toilet training have reportedly dropped in neighbourhoods with dog parks around the world.
"The main guidelines include the mandatory requirement that owners pick up after their dogs and that dogs must be on a leash and under their owner's control at all times."
He said that even the best-trained dogs had a tendency to get excited and chase someone or something which can cause panic among the elderly, disabled and children.
"Even in the United States, there is a reluctance to open up dog parks. Dog parks have opened and closed because of irresponsible pet owners and the shortsightedness of councils, but now the authorities there are going into it cautiously," he said, adding that dogs there were kept on a leash, except for enclosures for dogs to roam in.
Animal lover Myza Nordin said dog parks were a great idea. However, she felt Malaysian owners still lacked awareness to allow their dogs to roam free.
"For now, the leash should be on as not all dogs are social to other dogs as well as humans.
"Only trained dogs which have docile and non-aggressive temperaments should be allowed to roam free and it is up to the owner to gauge this after training and bonding with the dog," she said, adding that she thought most owners had not done the necessary to be able to evaluate their dogs.
"There also should be two enclosures at a dog park. One for big dogs and another for the small dogs," she added.
Sabrina Yeap of Furry Friends Farm said that such enclosures should only allow one dog or dogs that are familiar with each other at the same time.
"The council could then collect a fee from such enclosures," she said.
Yeap added that the gates at Central Park should be closed at all times to prevent dogs from running out.
"If possible, there should be guards stationed there who can open and close the gates as well as keep an eye on the owners and dogs. They should also be trained on how to act when things get out of hand," she added.
The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association Malaysia (Rehda) Datuk Seri Michael Yam Kong Choy had mixed reactions on the idea of dog parks.
He said the parks would not be difficult to construct in gated and guarded neighbourhood where it would be funded by the residents' service fund. But in areas where the parks had to be surrendered back to the council, he doubted any council would want the burden of maintaining such a facility.
"Plus it would also turn into a park for a small segment of society which owns dogs or likes dogs.
"Developers currently have too much on their plates such as ensuring public transport connectivity and so forth, maybe a better option would be creating better sidewalks or pavements for residents to walk their dogs," he added.
He, however, agreed that creating such parks like Setia Eco Park or Desa Park City where dogs are allowed outdoors on leashes could attract more expatriates to buy or rent property in an area.
"If Malaysians start cultivating the right attitude by picking up after their dogs and always putting their animal on a leash, we could create such sustainable parks. But I don't see it happening soon," he added.
Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung said he wants to focus on improving the quality and availability of parks to Malaysians before looking into the issue of dog parks.
"The country has very little open space to begin with and I like to fix that," he added.
2 comments:
Having a dog friendly park makes sense. I've been questioning the money collected through dog licensing for the longest time. We pay our local council for licensing fee, but there is nothing we got from them (council) in return. Even dogs with licenses are sometimes shot in random by independent hunters out to collect reward and from farmers who pay for the carcasses to fertilize their ground.
It's high time the council give something back.
I agree that we should have more dog friendly park so our dogs can get a good run for exercise. Secondly, we should be allowed to keep or dogs in a condo/apartment because it's impossible to own a landed property in the klang valley when u r single with average low income. We have so many condos/apartments being built but we are not allowed to have a pet. This is nonsense....as long as we pick up after our dogs and be a responsible pet owner.
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