PETPOSITIVE To Be Part Of Animal Welfare Council

Monday November 15, 2010

Groups to form animal council

By ISABELLE LAI
isabellelai@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Animal welfare groups will come together in Putrajaya on Nov 25 to form a national council to push for the creation of an Animal Welfare Bill.

Petpositive president Anthony Thanasayan said the formation of the council, which was initiated by the Veterinary Services De­­partment, was propelled by the recent shooting of licensed therapy dog Spunk by Ipoh City Council dog catchers.

“Spunk did it all, even in death. He has spurred us to take action and do something to help all the other animals,” he said in an interview here yesterday.

The council will have its first pro tem meeting on that day.

It was reported that 10-year-old Spunk was shot dead after its 75-year-old owner left it unattended for a while to get toilet paper to clean after the animal.

He said the council’s top priority was the creation of the Animal Welfare Bill.

“This will drastically improve the well-being of animals, especially strays or abused ones,” he said, adding that the council’s formation was awaiting approval from the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry.

“I will definitely urge for a special licence to be given to therapy dogs, which forbids dog catchers to grab them off the street or harm them in any way,” said Anthony, who heads the animal-assisted therapy organisation for the disabled and elderly.

He said every aspect of animal care would be discussed by the council, from issues such as slaughtering animals in a humane manner and treatment of livestock to domestic animal care.

Other non-governmental associations taking part in the meeting are the KL Animal Welfare Society, the Ipoh Animal Welfare Society, Noah’s Ark Ipoh and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Ipoh and Selangor.

Anthony said Petpositive and other NGOs would also be meeting with Ipoh City Council officials on Tuesday to present Spunk’s case.

“We will request an end to the shooting of animals and advise the council to implement more educational programmes such as teaching people about responsible pet ownership,” he said.

He added that they would also push for a committee to be formed by the council for canine issues and request that funds be set aside for it to build its own dog pound.

PET+BLOGSPOT is the ONLINE BLOG of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive). Our reports and 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 is now 70,000 and going strong! PET+BLOGSPOT is updated daily. Sometimes even twice or three times a day. Kindly take note that views expressed in this blog 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 as 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. Thank you!

First DVS Protem Animal Welfare Council Meeting After Hari Raya Haji

DVS Dr Aziz

UPDATE 9.30pm! DVS has just announced that Protem Animal Welfare Council Meeting will be held on Thursday, November 25 this month.

DATELINE: PETPOSITIVE THERAPY CENTRE, PETALING JAYA

THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERINARY SERVICES (DVS) IN PUTRAJAYA HAS KEPT ITS WORD IN CHAMPIONING ANIMAL RIGHTS AND WELFARE IN THE COUNTRY. 

IN LINE WITH ITS DIRECTOR GENERAL DATUK DR ABDUL AZIZ JAMALLUDIN'S  FAST TRACK PROMISE TO GET THE PROPOSED ANIMAL WELFARE ADVISORY COUNCIL ESTABLISHED, A FIRST PROTEM MEETING WILL BE HELD IMMEDIATELY AFTER HARI RAYA HAJI NEXT WEEK.

The DVS had initially called for a meeting next Tuesday. 

It was, however, rescheduled to the week after where a new date will be given soon.

The postponement was a special request by PETPOSITIVE.

This is because on the same day next Tuesday, the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and the Elderly Association (Petpositive) - together with several other animal welfare groups - already have a much awaited appointment in Ipoh, Perak.

The groups are meeting with the top brass of the Ipoh City Council or MBI.

They will be discussing the shooting of dogs in the city including the killing of Spunk, a therapy dog belonging to an elderly woman in Taman Merdeka on October 30th, last month.

This was confirmed by Member of Parliament M Kulasegaran this afternoon who has arranged for the meeting.

The representative for Ipoh Barat informed PET+BLOGSPOT that the MBI is eagerly looking forward to meeting with animal-based NGOs to discuss an effective long-term plan to solve the problem of strays in the city.

The other NGOs who will be joining Petpositive are the Malaysian Animal Welfare Society from Kuala Lumpur and SPCA Selangor. 

The groups from Ipoh are the local SPCA in Jalan Gopeng, the Animal Welfare Society in Ulu Piah and the protem group Noah's Ark from Ipoh Gardens Town.

The Ipoh-based groups will be meeting tonight to draw up a memorandum which the animals welfare groups will be handing over to MBI next Tuesday with MP Kula.

The memorandum is expected to call for an immediate end to dog-shooting in compliance with the DVS' orders, the establishment of a government animal pound for canines and the setting up of a canine advisory committee within the MBI where animal NGOs will also be members.

A press conference will be held immediately after the event.

Petpositive calls for the moral support and prayers of all animal lovers, hoping that our meeting with the MBI will be a successful one in the area of animal rights and welfare in the country.  

Please feel free to COMMENT below. Thank you!

Meanwhile, here is a report in The Star today carrying the views of Noah's Ark Ipoh against dog-shooting:

Friday November 12, 2010

Ipoh council draws more flak over therapy dog shooting

IPOH: The recent shooting of a licensed therapy dog by Ipoh City Council dog catchers in Taman Merdeka here has drawn more flak.

Noah’s Ark Ipoh founder and treasurer Dr Ranjit Kaur Mendhir said the shooting of animals should be banned immediately.

“How many hearts does the city council want to break?” she said here yesterday.

“Shooting stray animals is not the answer as there are more humane and easier ways of catching them,” she said, adding that it disagreed with Ipoh Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals adviser Dr Goh Hue Lang’s suggestion for council workers to use tranquilliser darts instead.

“There are also cheaper and more effective ways like looping, netting and cage trapping,” she said.

Dr Ranjit said the state Veterinary Services Department had come out with a new method to catch strays – the MB Dog Trap, which resembled a giant mousetrap.

“The city council should work together with the department.

“Why is the city council still adamant about shooting strays?” she said.

It was reported that a 10-year-old therapy dog named Spunk was shot dead after its 75-year-old owner left it unattended for a while to get toilet paper to clean it.

Dr Ranjit also pointed out that Veterinary Services Department director-general Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Jamaluddin had issued a statement calling for all shooting of strays to cease immediately.

“During our recent meeting with Dr Abdul Aziz, he had said it was all right to take a week to catch a dog as long as no shooting is involved,” she said.

PET+BLOGSPOT is the ONLINE BLOG of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive). Our reports and 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 is now 70,000 and going strong! PET+BLOGSPOT is updated daily. Sometimes even twice or three times a day. Kindly take note that views expressed in this blog 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 as 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. Thank you!