PETPOSITIVE SAYS:
Friday May 11, 2012
The Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (PETPOSITIVE) is deeply saddened over the mauling to death of an elderly jogger by a bull terrier in Subang Jaya.
As a national organisation that works towards bringing hope and joy through animal-assisted therapy for disabled and elderly Malaysians, it is not hard to imagine how shocked and gravely upset we all were by the news.
And what more that such a horrible tragedy should happen man in his seventies.
Domesticated pets such as dogs can and have played a tremendous positive role in the lives of human beings. They have helped alleviate stress, fight crime and offer unparalleled companionship to their owners.
But in some cases things can go wrong with pets like this rare and horrible tragedy on Tuesday, May 8, 2012.
In such situations, dogs equally become victims of such situation when they are incarcerated or put down as "dangerous dogs."
Despite the kind of work that we do, Petpositive has always also spoken out for the safety of vulnerable people in dog attacks, including the disabled and children in our country.
What transpired should not have happened to anyone.
In fact, it is everyone's responsibility - the local authorities as well that of the civil societies to also play their part to ensure that the outside environment and public places should be safe for all persons.
Local councils, for instance, ought to get tougher on their laws when pet owners let their dogs out without being on a leash.
Dogs, whether they are licensed or not, should be kept in a pound and released only when owners have paid their fines. These fines should be increased in order to let owners know that they mean business.
Councils should also license dog-trainers and breeders and educate them from time to time about the rights of non animal owners and their right to a safe environment.
These should be done together with the Veterinary Services Department (DVS). Local councils and the DVS should conduct talks about responsible pet ownership and tips on how to avoid dog attacks with local residents groups in each local council vicinity.
The DVS should revise its banned dog list. Putting fear in people will never educate them.
Besides it will only make unscrupulous dog trainers and breeders to go after such breeds and promising naive persons that the so-called "banned breeds" is guranteed to protect your homes.
Petpositive, which has worked with Rottweilers, German Shepherds and Dobermans and other breeds, have always believed that there are NO bad dogs: ONLY BAD OWNERS.
These should include how to choose a dog, how to care for it and when to know to call in a professional when pets exhibit problems.
Each and every local council should start creating dog parks in certain areas to give pet owners an opportunity to exercise and socialise their pets. Many parks currently disallow pets, and thus exarcebating the problem for pet owners who have no where else to take them.
The above was printed in Free Malaysia Today as follows:
There are no bad breeds or dogs, only bad owners
May 11, 2012
FMT LETTER: From Anthony SB Thanasayan, via e-mail
The Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly
Association (Petpositive) is deeply saddened over the mauling to death
of an elderly jogger by a bull terrier in Subang Jaya.
As a national organisation that works towards bringing hope and joy
through animal-assisted therapy for disabled and elderly Malaysians, it
is not hard to imagine how shocked and gravely upset we all were by the
news.
And what more that such a horrible tragedy should happen to a gentleman in his seventies.
Domesticated pets such as dogs can and have played a tremendous
positive role in the lives of human beings. They have helped alleviate
stress, fight crime and offer unparalleled companionship to their
owners.
But in some cases things can go very wrong with pets like this rare and horrible tragedy on Tuesday, May 8, 2012.
In such situations, dogs equally become victims of such tragedies when they are incarcerated or put down as “dangerous dogs.”
Despite the kind of work that we do, Petpositive has always also
spoken out for the safety of vulnerable people in dog attacks, like the
elderly, disabled and children in our country.
What transpired should not have happened to anyone. And we must do our best to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.
In fact, it is everyone’s responsibility – the local authorities as
well that of civil societies to also play their part to ensure that the
outside environment and public places should be safe for all persons.
Local councils, for instance, ought to get tougher on their laws when pet owners let their dogs out without being on a leash.
One would be surprised to discover that some of these errant pet
owners are professionals.
They are either too lazy or just plain
ignorant about the need to accompany their pets on walks.
Dogs, whether they are licensed or not, should be kept in a pound and
released only when owners have paid their fines. These fines should be
increased in order to let owners know that local councils mean business.
Councils should also license dog-trainers and breeders and educate
them from time to time about the rights of non animal owners and their
right to a safe environment.
These should be done together with the Veterinary Services Department
(DVS). Local councils and the DVS should conduct talks about
responsible pet ownership and tips on how to avoid dog attacks with
local residents groups in each local council vicinity.
The DVS should revise its banned dog list. Putting fear in people will never educate them.
Besides it will only make unscrupulous dog trainers and breeders to
go after such breeds and promising naive persons that the so-called
“banned breeds” is guranteed to protect your homes.
Petpositive, which has worked with Rottweilers, German Shepherds and
Dobermans and other breeds, have always believed that there are NO bad
breeds or dogs: ONLY BAD OWNERS.
People should be taught about how to choose a dog, how to care for it
and when to know to call in a professional when pets exhibit problems.
Each and every local council should start creating dog parks in
certain areas to give pet owners an opportunity to exercise and
socialise their pets.
Many parks currently disallow pets, and thus
exarcebating the problem for pet owners who have no where else to take
them.
The writer is president of Petpositive
The Star, Saturday May 12, 2012
There are no bad dogs, only bad owners
THE Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive)
is deeply saddened over the death of an elderly jogger who was mauled by a miniature bull terrier cross in Subang Jaya.
As
a national organisation that works towards bringing hope and joy
through animal-assisted therapy for disabled and elderly Malaysians, it
is not hard to imagine how shocked and upset we all are at the news.
And what more that such a horrible tragedy should happen to a gentleman in his 70s.
Domesticated pets such as dogs can play – and have played – a tremendous positive role in the lives
of human beings.
They have helped alleviate stress, fight crime and offered unparalleled companionship to their owners.
But in some cases things can go very wrong with pets, like this rare and horrible tragedy on May 8.
In such situations, dogs equally become victims of such tragedies when they are incarcerated or put down as “dangerous dogs”.
Despite
the kind of work that we do, Petpositive has always also spoken out for
the safety of vulnerable people in dog attacks, like the elderly,
disabled and children.
What transpired should not have happened to anyone.
And we must do our best to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.
In
fact, it is everyone’s responsibility – the local authorities as well
civil societies – to play their part to ensure that the outside
environment and public places are safe for all persons.
Local councils, for instance, ought to get tougher on their laws when pet owners let their dogs out without being on a leash.
One would be surprised to discover that some of these errant pet owners are professionals.
They are either too lazy or just plain ignorant about the need to accompany their pets on walks.
Whether they are licensed or not, dogs kept in a pound should only be released after the owners have paid their fines.
These fines should be increased in order to let owners know that local councils mean business.
Councils
should also license dog trainers and breeders and educate them from
time to time on the rights of non-animal owners and their right to a
safe environment.
This should be done together with the Veterinary Services Department (DVS).
Local
councils and the DVS should conduct talks on responsible pet ownership
and provide tips on how to avoid dog attacks for local residents groups
in each local council vicinity.
The DVS should revise its banned dog list.
Putting fear in people will never educate them.
Besides,
it will only make unscrupulous dog trainers and breeders go after such
breeds, and promising naive persons that the so-called “banned breeds”
are guaranteed to protect their homes.
Petpositive, which has
worked with Rottweilers, German Shepherds and Dobermanns and other
breeds, has always believed that there are no bad breeds or dogs, only
bad owners.
People should be taught how to choose a dog, how to
care for it and know when to call in a professional when pets exhibit
problems.
Each and every local council should start creating dog
parks in certain areas to give pet owners an opportunity to exercise and
socialise their pets.
Many parks currently disallow pets, thus exacerbating the problem for pet owners who have no where else to take them.
ANTHONY S.B. THANASAYAN,
President,
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