Better days for strays
Working together for the first time, MBPJ and
DBKL host the annual World Animal Day and look at how to better their
stray animal control management efforts.
COMMENT
Two
prominent central cities recently created local council history for
animals in our nation. And I was simply thrilled to be part of it, along
with about 150 others who participated in the occasion!The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ ) has observed World Animal Day, held annually in October, for the past three years and they had another go at it last month.
This year, MBPJ decided to make it a milestone event and jointly hosted the do with Kuala Lumpur’s City Hall (DBKL).
A first for both councils – working together on a single project. After three months of planning and barely a week before kick off, trouble started to rear its ugly head.
A local animal NGO on its Facebook page, called on its followers to boycott our event. Their aim was to try to discredit our efforts by calling us “stray animal haters” and other untrue and horrid things.
But that didn’t stop participants from coming to our event, with some turning up as early as 7.30am – half an hour before schedule.
We were hoping for an audience of 300 people, we ended up with only half the number but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
A value added feature was that a good number of attendees did not have pets, especially dogs, and some had terrible misconceptions about our canine friends.
So it became the perfect opportunity to preach to those who really needed it rather than the already “converted” which disappointingly, usually happens in most awareness seminars and forums.
We had succeeded in getting our actual target group.
Responsible pet ownership
The
day began with a screening of two three-minute videos produced
specially for the occasion by MBPJ and DBKL, showcasing the councils
vector unit and in particular stray animal control management.Keynote speaker was Seri Andalas state assemblyman Dr Xavier Jeyakumar, especially chosen because of his rich experience and knowledge on animal affairs as he was formerly the Selangor executive councilor for health.
Jeyakumar stressed to animal lovers and non pet owners that the way forward for animal welfare in our society, particularly in Selangor, is to set up a special state level committee involving all local councils.
“Instead of tackling issues individually, it is important for them (councils) to come together regularly to discuss and share ideas as well as develop strategies on how to effectively and humanely tackle stray control management and all issues related to animals,” said Jeyakumar.
“From time to time the views of a collection of animal welfare NGOs should also be sought in order to work effectively for a common goal in animal welfare,” he added.
Jeyakumar pointed out that the stray dog and cat problem is a result of irresponsible pet owners who allow their pets to roam free or even abandon them.
Commenting on a recent cruelty incident where the Kajang municipality (MPKj) dogcatchers injured stray dogs during their round up exercise, Jeyakumar condemned the act outright.
He demanded that the council take responsibility over what had happened and swiftly punish those responsible for their cruel act.
“Such acts should never be tolerated by any council or individual in our society,” he remarked to a round of applause.
Besides Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur, other local council participants included Klang, Shah Alam, Subang Jaya and Selayang.
At the launch a symbol depicting a pair of hands supporting a globe with doves in mid flight bearing the MBPJ and DBKL logos was used.
It represented the partnership between the two councils working together towards helping create a better world for animals within the two cities’ jurisdiction.
An animated toy cat also suddenly appeared from a smoke screen, meowing loudly as if it was proclaiming this new mission to the world.
Later, two real cats were used for a photo shoot with VIPs of the event, evoking smiles from all present.
Five pet owners from PJ and KL were presented with recognition certificates for being exemplary and responsible pet owners.
DBKL presented a recognition certificate to animal NGO, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), Selangor in appreciation of their support in the council’s dog management programmes.
Forum speakers included the heads of public healthcare that directly dealt with the controlling of strays.
Cats bigger problems
Dr Chithradavi Vadivellu from MBPJ disclosed that currently cats are slowly becoming more of a problem than dogs.DBKL’s Dr Zainol Ariffin spoke about NGOs like the SPCA and the Department of Veterinary Services, Kuala Lumpur helping them maintain the quality of care for animals in their pounds.
The most interesting presentation of the day was by Klang municipality’s (MPK) Zulkifli bin Abbas.
Instead of boring charts and diagrams, he creatively used cartoons to drive home his message especially to pet owners.
“In most canine complaints we receive from the public, we always find after our investigation that the dogs are really innocent – it is the owners who are often the culprits,” explained Zulkifli.
He then went on to show funny cartoon pictures of dogs tied up and being kept away from their food and water bowls, and other canines made to sleep in the rain and under the scorching sun.
The worst, were animals left at home without food or supervision for several days when the whole family goes on vacation, creating a situation where the council has to intervene.
As attendees chortled and laughed over Zulkifli’s slides, I caught some suddenly with guilty looks. Perhaps realising they were actually laughing at themselves.
Another invited speaker was Ng Keng Meng from the Malaysian Kennel Club, the oldest dog club in Asia.
He sobered everyone up by reminding them that if they are not ready for the heavy responsibilities that comes with owning a dog – then not having a canine is probably one of the best decisions a dog lover can make.
Dr Kiew Kai Xuan from Rhonema products unearthed the horrific grotesque-looking and potentially dangerous parasites that sinisterly “bunk” in our pets, homes and lives. Her talk was helpful on how to get rid of these parasites or how to avoid them altogether.
Good news for Petaling Jaya pet owners was the announcement that from now on when they renew their dog licences, they will receive a brief pet guide pamphlet – “Do’s and Don’ts” of pet ownership.
New pet licence owners will be entitled to discounted pet foods from Eukanuba, sponsors of the pamphlet.
The half day event also welcomed the participation of disabled people – the blind, physically handicapped and a little person. This is always a plus point for those of us in the disability movement.
Participants were served breakfast and lunch which, needless to say, was vegetarian in order to ensure that on that day at least, no animals were killed for the event.
All in all, it was a unforgettable occasion reminding everyone that our environment and society is not inhabited by human beings alone, our world is shared with animals and it is very important that as human beings we make sure that we give them their due space.
Anthony SB Thanasayan is a wheelchair and animal activist. He is also a city councillor.
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