Groups moot 'animal police' to tackle cruelty

 

The Malaysia Animal Voice Association hopes the government can set up an “Animal Police” to deal with the increasing cases of animal cruelty in the country.

Its president Nashriq Ismail Sabri said the animal protection team would act as a special agency of law enforcement to protect animals from being mistreated or abused by irresponsible individuals.

“The Animal Police will also have its own helpline to make it easier for the public to lodge complaints so that action can be taken immediately.

“Currently, although there are parties who can be contacted, it takes a long time to respond and can cause the abused or mistreated animals to die,” he told reporters after launching the Helping Stray Cats Programme in conjunction with the Animal Welfare Day 2021 campaign today.

About 100 stray cats were vaccinated and given medication as a result of the programme organised in collaboration with the Malaysia Cat Club, Malaysia Animal Voice Association, Department of Veterinary Services, Putra Nilai Veterinar and Brit Cat Food.

Malaysia Cat Club president Khalid Rashid, who was present, suggested that the local authorities (PBT) set up cat parks to ensure that public areas are free of stray cats.

“With cat parks, these cute animals can be well taken care of especially in terms of vitamins provision and daily hygiene routine.

“In fact, the public can also take care of them through the permits given besides having the potential to generate income and become a new attraction in tourism activities,” he said.

Khalid said that to date, more than 5,000 stray cats in the Klang Valley had been rescued since the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) to curb the spread of Covid-19 in March 2020.

“Of that number, more than 2,000 cats have been adopted by animal lovers while the rest were placed in shelters,” he said.

Meanwhile, the two NGOs are also ready to collaborate with Maryam Muzamir, 11, who created animal feed innovations from shrimp and snail shells to win three gold medals in the 6th Canada International Innovation and Invention Competition (iCAN 2021 ), in Toronto, Canada, last month.

They are ready to invite Maryam to participate in every programme they hold and for a start, use her innovations for stray cats.

- Bernama