BN govt doesn’t care about animal welfare

Animal activists must never cease to badger the federal government to shape up and respect all living beings, big or small.

COMMENT

This plea goes out to animal lovers/activists and the 300 pet guardians whose pet cats were left to die by an illegally run pet boarding centre – please hang on to your votes until the federal government bucks up and starts taking cases of animal cruelty seriously.

To some, this may sound no less a threat and so be it, considering how the federal government, under Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, has shown zero concern over the numerous cases of cruelty to animals.

So much so that the 124-year-old London-based The Mayhew Animal Home and Humane Education Centre has concluded that the indifference shown by the Malaysian authorities towards the many cases of animal abuse reflects Malaysia’s lack of respect for its animals.

To the 300 pet owners who left their pets at the Petknode boarding centre in Damansara Damai to travel during the recent Hari Raya Aidilfitri long holidays, their anger is very much justified. And so is their frustration with the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) for long having shrugged off its responsibility.

In 1995, repeated calls by a concerned neighbour to the DVS to come to the rescue of Sheena, a German Shephered canine abandoned by her owner when he moved house, were ignored by the department. Needless to say, Sheena’s blood is on DVS’ hands.

In the Petknode case, the owners returned over the past weekend to discover that their pets had been abandoned for nine days without food or water, and were covered in their own waste. Thirteen of the 300 rescued cats died due to starvation and many more were missing.

Petknode owners, Yushairi Khairuddin and Shahrul Azuwan Adanan, were brought in for questioning on Sept 4 evening but were released just hours later without being charged.

Bad enough that these two turned up to be “conmen” using a pet boarding as a cover. Yushairi and Shahrul gave the pet owners the worst nightmare ever by refusing to reveal the location where 100 more cats were kept.

Typically, Malaysia’s lame laws saw no reason to remand these two men, that too after Shahrul’s family-turned-partner in crime helped clean out the Petknode premises and destroy all evidence.

Shame! This is how animal lovers and activists define DVS’ impotency in sensing urgency to act in the Petknode case. As they say, both the dead and animals cannot speak up, hence the “take it easy” attitude adopted by the DVS in attending to cases of animal abuses brought to its attention.

But for how long more does the DVS intend to sit back and enjoy its makan gaji status, the least bothered that its reputation precedes its image?

Take DVS and PJCC to task

Over 100 activists and owners stormed the Damansara Damai police station on Sept 5 evening demanding that police take immediate action in finding the missing felines and persecute both Yushairi and Shahrul. Fingers were also pointed at the DVS which has taken over the case.

But lawyer N Surendran told FMT that although the DVS was investigating the cruelty charge, the police are still responsible for investigating the missing cats case.

“The police are working on some leads but the problem is that the culprits have been released,” he said after joining the group at the police station on the night of Sept 5.

Surendran added: “When DVS took over the investigations, the police washed their hands off the case and now the men are free to do whatever they want. The two should have been held further.”

He said the distraught group is demanding that the duo be charged with cheating and theft which carry a heavier penalty than a cruelty charge.

“But the Criminal Investigation Department has yet to classify it as such so I hope they do it soon,” he said. “This is a clear-cut case of cheating and theft, and we want to see these monsters behind bars.”

And then comes the news that confirms that our local authorities are doing what they are good at – makan gaji buta without breaking a sweat. How else then does one explain the fact that the Petaling Jaya City Council (PJCC) had no idea that Petknode had been operating illegally since 2009.

The fact that Petknode was an illegal entity, never paying for its operational licence or renewing it since 2009, only came to light now, after the owners “cheated” the pet owners and caused the death of 13 cats who starved to death.

So much for Najib’s “performance now” promise! Together with the DVS, the PJCC too must be taken to task for failing to do its job.

Makan gaji buta mentality cannot go on

The local councils of this country have become too comfortable in their comfort zone, taking home their gaji or salary, without batting an eyelid where job performance goes.

This makan gaji buta (not working hard for your money) mentality has to stop. What more has to happen before the local councils here wake up and take their job seriously?

In my previous articles concerning cruelty to animals, I had cited the many cases of animal abuse, particularly dogs, committed by the local council enforcement workers. But it seems that more effort is required to tear down the “comfort zone” of these councils.

The crimes against animals in this country are painfully troubling. Last year, an elderly woman was traumatised when the Ipoh City Council put to sleep her loyal and licensed therapy dog. The council tried to absolve itself by saying it thought the dog was a street animal.

In March last year, too, a concerned citizen wrote a letter to a news portal depicting the horror of witnessing a dog being abused at the Kepong central KTM station by Kuala Lumpur City Hall workers who tied the dog to a grille and shoved a piece of wood down its throat.

The dog was bleeding and surrounded by its faeces. Its suffering did not bother these City Hall workers who were more concerned about sprucing up the area in preparation for a visit by a Cabinet minister.

The workers escaped punishment. Why were they not punished? Was the dog’s life not precious and wothy of respect?

Yet, another case involved the Kuala Langat District Council which was reported to have killed nine pedigree dogs without any veterinary assessment

In 2005, The Star reported a cat breeder was charged in court with neglecting his cats by forcing them to lie inside small cages alongside their faeces, resulting in an unbearable stench.

In another incident in Johor Baru, five men armed with sticks attacked several street cats and dogs under the care of the Johor Baru Humane Touch Animal Welfare Society in Taman Delima.

Malaysia’s lousy human and animal rights record

It is no hidden secret that the human rights record under the Barisan Nasional-led government sucks. Add now the animal rights record as well. Does this shame the BN government even an iota or has it become so blinded by power and money that it doesn’t care two hoots for both human and animal welfare?

The Petknode case has left animal lovers fuming. Equally livid is the Malaysian Animal Welfare Society. Its president Shenaaz Khan said the government does not care about animal abuse cases.

“The pet owners (affected by Petknode) can make as many police reports (against Petknode) as they want, but what is going to be done after the reports are made?” she asked.

Like many animal lovers and animal activists who have given up on the DVS, Shenaaz too would not be surprised if the DVS let off Petknode’s owners with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

Shenaaz said: “They (DVS) are the enforcement agency with regard to domestic animals… (but) not much action will be taken against (Petknode).

“They (Petknode) will certainly get away with it, there will be a public outcry for a while, the company will lose its licence, but (later on), it will just set up another business elsewhere.”

Shenaaz said that DVS officials are not animal-friendly and lax in taking action against animal abusers.

She also criticised the Animal Act 1953 (2006 Amendment), arguing that it is not adequate to deal with animal abuse cases.

Currently, the Act states that anyone guilty of cruelty to animals would be liable to a RM200 fine or a six-month jail term or both.

Sheenaz then cited Chao Xiao Wei’s case as an example. In March this year, Chao stomped on three kittens.

Her actions, captured on CCTV and spread over the Internet, led her to being slapped with a RM400 fine but no jail term.

Sheenaz also slammed the Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Ministry, which oversees the DVS, for constantly promising to raise the Act’s maximum fine to RM50,000 and one year’s jail.

“It’s just something they like to talk about to shut people up,” she said, adding that the minister, Noh Omar, did not follow up with his promises.

Thank you, Shenaaz for opening up the long overdue can of worms. It is now left to the Najib-led government to either rebuke the DVS for being downright lazy and irresponsible or do what it does best – ignore animal abuses taking place in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, animal activists and the Press must never cease to badger the federal government to shape up and respect all living beings, big or small regardless.