ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing original investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide. Founded in 1992, ANIMAL PEOPLE has no alignment or affiliation with any other entity.

 

This site built and maintained by: GREANVILLE ASSOCIATESand CRESCENT COMMUNICATIONS •Rev. 12.1.05 Copyright ANIMAL PEOPLE, INC. 1992--2006

 

 

 

 

 
   

 
powered by FreeFind

ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS

MONTH: September 2007

Malaysian humane community stops Selayang dog-catching contest

 

SELAYANG, Malaysia--The Selayang Municipal Council on September 13, 2007 cancelled a dogcatching contest begun the previous week, which had offered 78,000 ringgit--about $22,200--in cash prizes.
The cancellation displayed the growing influence of the Malaysian humane movement, which draws support from all of the major ethnic and religious communities in a nation where politics often split along ethnic or religious divides.

Selangor council president Zainal Abidin Azim opened the dog-catching contest on September 5, in response, he said, to receiving about 80 complaints per month about stray dogs. Teams or individuals were required to catch at least 150 dogs in six months to qualify for awards of 15,000, 13,000, and 11,000 ringgit.

The contest started out with the endorsement of Rawang state assembly member Tang See Hang, who posed for photographers "capturing" a cardboard cutout of a dog.

Asked what would become of dogs caught during the contest, Tang See Hung told media, "Anyone who wishes to rear the dogs will be welcome to pick them up. Otherwise we would dispose of them through the council's own methods."

Amended Selangor First Minister Mohamed Khir Toyo, after Tang See Hung's remarks were fiercely denounced in the letters columns of the Malaysia Star and New Straits Times, "All the animals caught will be given to the SPCA, and the dogs would be housed, or even put to sleep, based on their reasonable expertise.

"Competitions like this are good," Khir Toyo continued. "Dog-catching must be done, as strays could attack children or even adults. The animals could also spread diseases, as the strays rummage through garbage and get skin diseases."

But Khir Toyo told Edward Rajendra of the Malaysia Star that too much prize money was offered. "We have to create a commitment among the public to control the number of strays," Khir Toyo said, but not with such exorbitant prizes."

Rebutted SPCA Selangor chair Christine Chin, "We can't propagate a fun and festive mood in dog catching, as the whole idea is wrong. Having such a competition encourages cruelty." Chin further pointed out that the SPCA Selangor is not a municipal animal control agency. "The SPCA does not catch or destroy animals," Chin said. "In fact it is wrong to say that the dogs would be handed to us. Our role is to prevent cruelty to animals, promote kindness to animals, and encourage responsible pet ownership."

Other Malaysian humane societies amplified Chin's criticisms.

"We believe, this inhumane competition will not only subject stray dogs to cruelty, but will cause dognapping, because it will be easier and faster [to catch tame dogs] to fulfill the prize eligibility," said Nick Josh K. Karean of the Humane Society Independent Group of Malaysia. Karean started a worldwide electronic petition against the contest.

Furry Friends spokesperson Sabrina Yeap recommended that the reward fund should be spent instead to hire professional dog-catchers, whose methods would meet acceptable humane standards.

Explained Malaysian Animal Rights & Welfare Society president and attorney N. Surendran to Mazlinda Mahmood of the New Straits Times, "The only proven way to solve the problem is a comprehensive spaying campaign, coupled with a public education program to teach owners to neuter their pets and not abandon them."

Surendran recommended the introduction of licensing with discounts for sterilized pets, and alleged that the Selangor council "is committing cruelty to animals and exposing the public to danger. Who's going to be liable," Surendran asked, "if someone is bitten? The council could be sued and taxpayers would have to foot the bill."

Agreed veterinarian Lynnette Low, displaying scars on her arms to Mahmood, "Even professionals get hurt when they deal with dogs."

Said dog rescuer Natasha Valerie Fernz, "When dogs are cornered, their natural reaction is to bite. Then people will blame the dogs and say they should be destroyed."

As the issue heated up, Selayang Municipal Council president Zainal Abidin avoided humane delegations by taking a leave of absence. Hecklers confronted 30 animals advocates on September 11, but failed to provoke a hostile response.

The Selangor campaign paralleled the humane response a year earlier, after 13 dogs were shot by order of the Seremban Municipal Council. An ad hoc Coalition Against Dog Shooting & Other Inhumane Methods formed, including six animal welfare organizations and two organizations focused on human rights and welfare.

Another dog shooting followed, in front of more than 100 young witnesses in the compound of a secondary school in Ipoh. Under pressure from the children, many of their parents, and the Coalition Against Dog Shooting, the Ipoh City Council voted to "use tranquilisers instead of bullets from now on," explained mayor Mohamad Rafiai Mokhtar to news media.

Protest saves pigs

Protest based on ethnic and economic grievances, more familiar to most Malaysians, meanwhile saved as many as 150,000 pigs in early September 2007--at least until they reached normal slaughtering weight.

For most of the day on September 4, about 100 villagers including women and children stood off between 200 and 300 police officers, half of the police in riot gear, after the police descended on Paya Mengkuang, Malacca, with six excavators to dig mass graves for culled pigs, plus several trucks outfitted with water cannon.

The Malacca state government had ordered the closure of 15 farms with a combined total of 150,000 pigs.

Similar stand-offs reportedly came at Ayer Molek and Bukit Beruang villages.

Agence France-Press said late in the day that the pig-killing had finally started. "More than 60% of Malaysians are Muslim and consider pigs and pork unclean," Agence France-Press explained. "The country's pig farmers are mostly from Malaysia's sizeable Chinese population.

Malaccan government spokespersons denied on September 5 that any pigs were killed. Instead, they announced, an agreement had been reached whereby the farmers agreed to sell 2,000 pigs per day to reduce the pig population to 48,000 by September 21.