Animal lovers protest Kajang council’s treatment of stray dogs

 

The group protesting outside the Kajang Municipal Council building today.

KAJANG: A group of residents and members of two NGOs gathered outside the Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) building today to protest against the alleged mistreatment of captured stray dogs by council officers.

This comes after a video and picture were shared on Facebook of stray dogs rounded up by the officers which were allegedly left in lorries without food and water.

The posts, which were allegedly taken outside the Kajang Stadium in the dark, showed several stray dogs crowded into two lorries with the words “Majlis Perbandaran Kajang” on them.

The Malaysia Independent Animal Rescue (MIAR) and Lawyers for Animal Rights handed over a memorandum to the council, urging it to launch an investigation into the matter and take action against the officers concerned.

MIAR founder Puspa Rani Thanabalasingam and Lawyers for Animal Rights’ members Sachpreetraj Sohanpal (left) and Rajesh Nagarajan (right) handing over the memorandum to Mohd Alizam Ali.

MPKj representative Mohd Alizam Ali said the council could not provide any statements on the matter at the moment.

“We will take a look at the memorandum before calling a meeting to discuss the next course of action,” he said.

Animal rights activist and MIAR founder Puspa Rani Thanabalasingam said she had lodged a similar report with the council 10 years ago over the alleged mistreatment of stray dogs, which led to the building of a dog pound.

She urged anyone who came across dog catchers abusing strays to record videos or take pictures and forward them to MIAR.

Lawyers for Animal Rights members Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Sohanpal said it was unlikely the council officers had abided by the SOPs when capturing and incarcerating the dogs.

A photo of the captured stray dogs in a lorry that was posted on Facebook. (Facebook pic)

Rajesh said the SOPs for capturing strays should be published on the council’s website for public access.

He also said the limited space in the lorries could cause the dogs to become rabid and attack each other as they were territorial animals by nature.

Sachpreetraj noted that several animal welfare organisations had proposed the “trap, neuter and release” method for stray dogs several years back, but it had not been acted upon.

He also urged the Veterinary Services Department to look into the matter as it has the authority to do so. - FMT