Dear All,. We Receive Private Messages Almost Dail..

Dear all,

We receive private messages almost daily from feeders pleading for us to come and take dozens of dogs they are feeding off the streets because the local councils were coming for them after complaints from residents. For 13 year we have been picking-up puppies as well as dogs injured in feeding and mating frenzies all over town. We took the liberty to contact some friends working at the local councils to ask what the nature of these complaints was and we were told that residents complained that:

1) There was a boom in the street dog population in their areas after people started feeding the dogs there

2) Feeders did not clean-up the place and more often than not just left the food there for the dogs and left. Most of the time they left too much food and there are leftovers that became rotten and attracted rodents

3) There were many puppies that became roadkills and it was distressing for the complainants constantly see dead animals near their premises

4) The feeders came late at night and once they left the food there and left, the dogs fought over the food and made a loud din waking up their children who were already in bed

As long as there are complaints, the council will act and these dogs are dragged to the pound and killed off. Generally feral dogs manage to get away, but some dogs that can easily get away don’t because they have puppies there. So it is indeed very pitiful when mothers get caught because they remain at the location with their puppies when the dog catchers come.

Since the MCO started the number of feeders grew. Some go there extra mile by neutering them but others are just content to feed them and do not even take the initiative to know the dogs they feed. They feed large groups of dogs that have become larger.

Let’s look at some canine behavious and psyche first.

1) Street dogs are nothing like your pet dogs. They have a different mind set of needs. For your pet dogs the priorities are treats, walks, cuddles, belly scratching and barking at anything or anyone passing in front of your house. For street dogs and untamed and non-neutered animals, there are only two priorities – FOOD and COPULATION to increase their numbers. When you provide food, you have removed the requirement for food and hence you need to also remove the need for copulation to increase the population by spaying/neutering.

2) When you feed without neutering, the dogs no longer need to go and look for for food and hence the have the time and energy to only concentrate in copulation and hence the population boom at feeding sites.Therefore FEEDING and SPAYING/NEUTERING must go hand in hand. When one feeds, the main objective must be to get nearer to the dogs as well as to befriend them and not solely to FILL THEIR BELLIES.

3) With much time for copulation, the dogs stand all over the place mounting females that are on heat. More often than not multiple males mount one female and at times injuring these poor females. Ferocious fights also break out when the males fight over the females and many of these males end-up with serious bite wounds in their necks which festers into maggot wounds. MDDB has rescued many male dogs with maggot wounds in the necks and we believe fighting over females and food must have been the reason behind these nasty injuries.

4) Ever wondered why street females have large litters most of the time? Apparently female dogs can be impregnated by multiple males and can give birth to puppies sired by different fathers at the same time. This startling revelation perhaps answers the question why puppies are different as night and day in some litters. So this is another reason why it is important to spay the dogs you feed.

5) Due to the increase in copulation activities and multiple males mounting females, many female dogs suffer from TVT which is a sexually transmitted cancer as well as pyometra which is the inflammation of the uterus. TVT is the big ulcers and sores in the private parts of many female street dogs that we see. Most of the time these dogs literally rot to death if not rescued – but how many such cases can one rescue group take in? It would have been much easier if they had been spayed to stop the copulation.

So how to feed?

1) Feeding must always be with the intent to catch and spay. Feeders must also take ownership and full responsibility of the dogs they feed. Best is to only feed if you can commit to this.

2) Maintain small colonies which you can manage – when you do indiscriminate feeding of huge packs of dogs, you cannot be in control of them

3) Make sure feeding is done after sunset but not too late at night to avoid attracting attention to yourself and the dogs you feed

4) Do not overfeed and make sure that you remain there until all the food is finished. The ideal situation would be for you to time yourself – the amount of food you give should be polished off in no longer than 15 minutes.

5) Please never forget to clean-up after feeding. Remove all newspapers, containers and whatever else you had used to feed them. Do not litter the place as if you do, it spells trouble for the dogs.

6) MOST IMPORTANTLY – do not do random feeding. The best is to locate and establish a permanent ‘feeding station’ in the area far from the houses there such as in a field. Make sure that feeding is done only here. Dogs are highly intelligent animals – they will know where and when to come to get fed. Hence, it is also important for you to feed at the same time or almost the same time daily. Make sure the feeding station is also cleaned-up. Do not forget to also give them water when you feed.

7) Hang around while the dogs are eating so that they know and recognize you and try befriending them so that at least some of them will allow you to touch them. This would make it easier for you to get them for neutering.

How to catch?

1) If the dogs are friendly with you, just leash them and lead them into your car

2) Reach out to shelters that have cage traps to borrow and use them to catch these dogs

3) You can spike the food to make the dogs drowsy – go to your regular vet and ask them for the meds but you must ensure that you keep your eyes on the dogs after you have spiked the food. This method is not suitable though to be used in dogs living in mini jungles

4) Hire dog catchers to help you out. There is one who uses a dart – but be prepared that it may not work the first time around. These dog catchers can also loop the dogs for you to be brought to the clinics. Borrow big carriers from rescue groups or shelters if you do not have one. Do not drive with a drugged feral dog in the back seat of the car (and not secured in a carrier) unless you want your neck chewed.

5) In order to catch, you have to observe the dogs first and maybe hang around in the area for a few days.

Neutering

1) Many feeders say they cannot afford to neuter – if you are spending RM500 month feeding – halve hem amount and use the other RM250 to spy one dog a month

2) There are some veterinary clinics which spay for as low as RM150, seek these clinics out

3) The vets will know how to spay street animals – some vets do a side incision for dogs that are to be released after spaying

4) Negotiate for the dogs to be at the clinic for about two days after surgery

5) Don’t forget to notch the ears. A deep V notch in both ears will clearly show that these are neutered dogs. If you are able to tag the ears – do so as well

6) There are some NGOs that subsidized neutering of street dogs – reach out to them

7) There are many animal related FB groups – post your request here for financial help. Get together with other feeders and embark on a fundraising campaign but MAKE SURE that the account number given belongs to a veterinary clinic and is not your personal account for accountability purposes.

Form a small group of perhaps three to four feeders, identify and negotiate a reasonable amount with a veterinary clinic, get their account number (make sure you keep tabs how much is going in), raise funds and then take your dogs in according to the vet’s schedule

The benefits of spaying/neutering street animals while feeding them

1. The population will decrease as there will no longer be puppies born

2. There won’t be many road accidents and roadkills

3. Street dogs will cease being a nuisance as there will not be aggressive fights during mating

4. Dogs will also remain hidden until feeding time as there isn’t a need for them to prowl around anymore

5. There won’t be instances of cruel dog catching activities by local councils given that the complaints will also decrease

6. Females won’t be giving birth on pavements and open areas

The challenges

In the past rescue groups used to carry out on location neutering whereby vets come over to carry out spaying. This was very convenient as sometimes about 50 dogs can be spayed over one weekend. SPCA also had a low-cost spaying facility called Kelinik Kembiri at the DBKL Pound.

Many feeders benefitted from this. MDDB’s on-location mass neutering was aided by PAWS with the supply of the necessary surgical equipment and drugs. Many independent rescuers and feeders had brought in their dogs, some with the help of dog catchers, for neutering.

The big shelters also had their own vets and sometimes feeders could bring their dogs to these places for neutering. Berjaya Foundation had also generously donated a RM200K mobile clinic to PAWS for the purpose of carrying out on location neutering.

One fine day soon after PAWS took possession of the mobile clinic, someone at Malaysian Veterinary Council, probably got struck by lightning in the head and suddenly realized that there was a clause in the veterinary profession act which stipulated that non-vets cannot hire veterinarians and that neutering can only be done in veterinary clinics.

Hence, Kelinik Kembiri was shut down and the big shelters had to let go of their in-house veterinarians. On-location neutering also came to an abrupt end. And the PAWS’ mobile clinic is now parked outside the shelter turning into besi burok.

The motiveless malignity that threw a spanner into the years and years of spay/neuter activities, must know that these rules were drafted decades ago at a different era and time and it certainly was not etched in stone.

It must also know that what it had done is causing many street animals to suffer which is a clear contradiction of the oath it took as a veterinarian. We are using it in order to not give away its gender. So, until we can get this reversed, spay/neuter can only be done at veterinary clinics.

.

The odds are stacked against street dogs

It is the practice for industry players and interested parties to be invited to present their views and feedback before a particular law is drafted.

Those chosen are given grants to carry out research, through the hiring of research assistants, for instance, to prepare for the presentation.

One of our friends, the first person to donate his entire year-end bonus towards the construction of our sanctuary, was one of those invited.

He is currently a law professor in a neighboring country. We gave him material which he used to draft his proposal and much of it covered the welfare of street dogs.

On the day of the presentation, we accompanied him to Parliament for the presentation. Besides us, there were others as well including the local councils.

The presentation went on well and we gave our two cents worth as well during the discussions that followed.

Following this, we have also attended several seminars and workshops organized by the Department of Veterinary Services.

When the law was finally passed in 2015, whatever feedback given in regards to street dogs was not there. Instead we found huge loopholes that sanctioned the catching and killing of street animals.

Hence, the onus is on all feeders and rescuers to ensure that street animals are given as much protection as possible from these draconian provisions that sentence them to death – one way to protect is to carry out careful and calculated feeding as opposed to random feeding.

In conclusion

Feeders and rescuers must not humanize animals and people in general must not romanticize about street animal feeding and rescuing.

The public must also not start the dangerous trend of hero worshiping rescuers and feeders as when you do, you may be creating monsters.

Some become addicted to the praise that they up their activities by increasing the number of dogs they feed mainly for photos to be uploaded on their social media timelines and sites. We are not saying all do this, only some.

This is detrimental to the well being and safety of the dogs as you are now feeding an unmanageable group and your feeding areas can become canine battle zones and a nuisance to residents in the area.

You are also giving away locations where these dogs are and this makes it easy for private dog catchers to come and make a big swipe.

Since they are paid by the head, they work nights too. Most importantly – IT IS ABOUT THE DOGS and not anyone and anything else.

GOOD LUCK.



Dear all,

We receive private messages almost daily from feeders pleading for us to come and take dozens of dogs they are feeding off the streets because the local councils were coming for them after complaints from residents. For 13 year we have been picking-up puppies as well as dogs injured in feeding and mating frenzies all over town. We took the liberty to contact some friends working at the local councils to ask what the nature of these complaints was and we were told that residents complained that:

1) There was a boom in the street dog population in their areas after people started feeding the dogs there

2) Feeders did not clean-up the place and more often than not just left the food there for the dogs and left. Most of the time they left too much food and there are leftovers that became rotten and attracted rodents

3) There were many puppies that became roadkills and it was distressing for the complainants constantly see dead animals near their premises

4) The feeders came late at night and once they left the food there and left, the dogs fought over the food and made a loud din waking up their children who were already in bed

As long as there are complaints, the council will act and these dogs are dragged to the pound and killed off. Generally feral dogs manage to get away, but some dogs that can easily get away don’t because they have puppies there. So it is indeed very pitiful when mothers get caught because they remain at the location with their puppies when the dog catchers come.

Since the MCO started the number of feeders grew. Some go there extra mile by neutering them but others are just content to feed them and do not even take the initiative to know the dogs they feed. They feed large groups of dogs that have become larger.

Let’s look at some canine behavious and psyche first.

1) Street dogs are nothing like your pet dogs. They have a different mind set of needs. For your pet dogs the priorities are treats, walks, cuddles, belly scratching and barking at anything or anyone passing in front of your house. For street dogs and untamed and non-neutered animals, there are only two priorities – FOOD and COPULATION to increase their numbers. When you provide food, you have removed the requirement for food and hence you need to also remove the need for copulation to increase the population by spaying/neutering.

2) When you feed without neutering, the dogs no longer need to go and look for for food and hence the have the time and energy to only concentrate in copulation and hence the population boom at feeding sites.Therefore FEEDING and SPAYING/NEUTERING must go hand in hand. When one feeds, the main objective must be to get nearer to the dogs as well as to befriend them and not solely to FILL THEIR BELLIES.

3) With much time for copulation, the dogs stand all over the place mounting females that are on heat. More often than not multiple males mount one female and at times injuring these poor females. Ferocious fights also break out when the males fight over the females and many of these males end-up with serious bite wounds in their necks which festers into maggot wounds. MDDB has rescued many male dogs with maggot wounds in the necks and we believe fighting over females and food must have been the reason behind these nasty injuries.

4) Ever wondered why street females have large litters most of the time? Apparently female dogs can be impregnated by multiple males and can give birth to puppies sired by different fathers at the same time. This startling revelation perhaps answers the question why puppies are different as night and day in some litters. So this is another reason why it is important to spay the dogs you feed.

5) Due to the increase in copulation activities and multiple males mounting females, many female dogs suffer from TVT which is a sexually transmitted cancer as well as pyometra which is the inflammation of the uterus. TVT is the big ulcers and sores in the private parts of many female street dogs that we see. Most of the time these dogs literally rot to death if not rescued – but how many such cases can one rescue group take in? It would have been much easier if they had been spayed to stop the copulation.

So how to feed?

1) Feeding must always be with the intent to catch and spay. Feeders must also take ownership and full responsibility of the dogs they feed. Best is to only feed if you can commit to this.

2) Maintain small colonies which you can manage – when you do indiscriminate feeding of huge packs of dogs, you cannot be in control of them

3) Make sure feeding is done after sunset but not too late at night to avoid attracting attention to yourself and the dogs you feed

4) Do not overfeed and make sure that you remain there until all the food is finished. The ideal situation would be for you to time yourself – the amount of food you give should be polished off in no longer than 15 minutes.

5) Please never forget to clean-up after feeding. Remove all newspapers, containers and whatever else you had used to feed them. Do not litter the place as if you do, it spells trouble for the dogs.

6) MOST IMPORTANTLY – do not do random feeding. The best is to locate and establish a permanent ‘feeding station’ in the area far from the houses there such as in a field. Make sure that feeding is done only here. Dogs are highly intelligent animals – they will know where and when to come to get fed. Hence, it is also important for you to feed at the same time or almost the same time daily. Make sure the feeding station is also cleaned-up. Do not forget to also give them water when you feed.

7) Hang around while the dogs are eating so that they know and recognize you and try befriending them so that at least some of them will allow you to touch them. This would make it easier for you to get them for neutering.

How to catch?

1) If the dogs are friendly with you, just leash them and lead them into your car

2) Reach out to shelters that have cage traps to borrow and use them to catch these dogs

3) You can spike the food to make the dogs drowsy – go to your regular vet and ask them for the meds but you must ensure that you keep your eyes on the dogs after you have spiked the food. This method is not suitable though to be used in dogs living in mini jungles

4) Hire dog catchers to help you out. There is one who uses a dart – but be prepared that it may not work the first time around. These dog catchers can also loop the dogs for you to be brought to the clinics. Borrow big carriers from rescue groups or shelters if you do not have one. Do not drive with a drugged feral dog in the back seat of the car (and not secured in a carrier) unless you want your neck chewed.

5) In order to catch, you have to observe the dogs first and maybe hang around in the area for a few days.

Neutering

1) Many feeders say they cannot afford to neuter – if you are spending RM500 month feeding – halve hem amount and use the other RM250 to spy one dog a month

2) There are some veterinary clinics which spay for as low as RM150, seek these clinics out

3) The vets will know how to spay street animals – some vets do a side incision for dogs that are to be released after spaying

4) Negotiate for the dogs to be at the clinic for about two days after surgery

5) Don’t forget to notch the ears. A deep V notch in both ears will clearly show that these are neutered dogs. If you are able to tag the ears – do so as well

6) There are some NGOs that subsidized neutering of street dogs – reach out to them

7) There are many animal related FB groups – post your request here for financial help. Get together with other feeders and embark on a fundraising campaign but MAKE SURE that the account number given belongs to a veterinary clinic and is not your personal account for accountability purposes.
Form a small group of perhaps three to four feeders, identify and negotiate a reasonable amount with a veterinary clinic, get their account number (make sure you keep tabs how much is going in), raise funds and then take your dogs in according to the vet’s schedule

The benefits of spaying/neutering street animals while feeding them

1. The population will decrease as there will no longer be puppies born

2. There won’t be many road accidents and roadkills

3. Street dogs will cease being a nuisance as there will not be aggressive fights during mating

4. Dogs will also remain hidden until feeding time as there isn’t a need for them to prowl around anymore

5. There won’t be instances of cruel dog catching activities by local councils given that the complaints will also decrease

6. Females won’t be giving birth on pavements and open areas

The challenges

In the past rescue groups used to carry out on location neutering whereby vets come over to carry out spaying. This was very convenient as sometimes about 50 dogs can be spayed over one weekend. SPCA also had a low-cost spaying facility called Kelinik Kembiri at the DBKL Pound.

Many feeders benefitted from this. MDDB’s on-location mass neutering was aided by PAWS with the supply of the necessary surgical equipment and drugs. Many independent rescuers and feeders had brought in their dogs, some with the help of dog catchers, for neutering.

The big shelters also had their own vets and sometimes feeders could bring their dogs to these places for neutering. Berjaya Foundation had also generously donated a RM200K mobile clinic to PAWS for the purpose of carrying out on location neutering.

One fine day soon after PAWS took possession of the mobile clinic, someone at Malaysian Veterinary Council, probably got struck by lightning in the head and suddenly realized that there was a clause in the veterinary profession act which stipulated that non-vets cannot hire veterinarians and that neutering can only be done in veterinary clinics.

Hence, Kelinik Kembiri was shut down and the big shelters had to let go of their in-house veterinarians. On-location neutering also came to an abrupt end. And the PAWS’ mobile clinic is now parked outside the shelter turning into besi burok.

The motiveless malignity that threw a spanner into the years and years of spay/neuter activities, must know that these rules were drafted decades ago at a different era and time and it certainly was not etched in stone.

It must also know that what it had done is causing many street animals to suffer which is a clear contradiction of the oath it took as a veterinarian. We are using it in order to not give away its gender. So, until we can get this reversed, spay/neuter can only be done at veterinary clinics.
.
The odds are stacked against street dogs

It is the practice for industry players and interested parties to be invited to present their views and feedback before a particular law is drafted.

Those chosen are given grants to carry out research, through the hiring of research assistants, for instance, to prepare for the presentation.

One of our friends, the first person to donate his entire year-end bonus towards the construction of our sanctuary, was one of those invited.

He is currently a law professor in a neighboring country. We gave him material which he used to draft his proposal and much of it covered the welfare of street dogs.

On the day of the presentation, we accompanied him to Parliament for the presentation. Besides us, there were others as well including the local councils.

The presentation went on well and we gave our two cents worth as well during the discussions that followed.

Following this, we have also attended several seminars and workshops organized by the Department of Veterinary Services.

When the law was finally passed in 2015, whatever feedback given in regards to street dogs was not there. Instead we found huge loopholes that sanctioned the catching and killing of street animals.

Hence, the onus is on all feeders and rescuers to ensure that street animals are given as much protection as possible from these draconian provisions that sentence them to death – one way to protect is to carry out careful and calculated feeding as opposed to random feeding.

In conclusion

Feeders and rescuers must not humanize animals and people in general must not romanticize about street animal feeding and rescuing.

The public must also not start the dangerous trend of hero worshiping rescuers and feeders as when you do, you may be creating monsters.

Some become addicted to the praise that they up their activities by increasing the number of dogs they feed mainly for photos to be uploaded on their social media timelines and sites. We are not saying all do this, only some.

This is detrimental to the well being and safety of the dogs as you are now feeding an unmanageable group and your feeding areas can become canine battle zones and a nuisance to residents in the area.

You are also giving away locations where these dogs are and this makes it easy for private dog catchers to come and make a big swipe.

Since they are paid by the head, they work nights too. Most importantly – IT IS ABOUT THE DOGS and not anyone and anything else.

GOOD LUCK.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/MalaysianDogsDeserveBetter/photos/a..

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