Two More Cases Today, And How Many More Every Day?

My phone has not stopped ringing the whole afternoon. Besides coordinating Meiji’s dogfood delivery, handling a few tshirt purchases and Misai Kucing orders (yes, we are taking orders for the Misai Kucing drink as well – proceeds go to our Fund), there were two more cases which we could not help, and that’s when I’d direct them to those who can.

This is a daily thing for me – making connections, when we are not able to help.

Case 1

A lady from Cheras called regarding two dogs belonging to her neighbour. Both are very young dogs, and both are pedigree. One is being treated badly and the other has been thrown out of the house. The owner does not want it anymore. Every day, the thrown-out dog would wait at the gate for the owner to return, and tries to get into the gate, but it would be thrown out again. This lady pities both dogs and has reported the badly treated one to the SPCA.

She asks what can be done with the thrown-out dog, which is a Spitz. And also, for the badly treated dog in the house (a Golden Retriever).

Well, as you know, cruelty is not within our scope and we have no right. The only authority to advise would be the SPCA and to prosecute, would be the DVS, but remember, once reported to the DVS, the animal will be confiscated if the owner is found guilty. The owner would only be slapped a maximum fine of RM200. The animal? You know what happens. So, do I even want to suggest reporting to the DVS?

But here’s what the lady can do – If the owner has thrown out the dog, it means the dog is now a stray, and she could secure the dog, take a photo and I’ll blog for adopters. Another alternative is to surrender the dog to the various shelters around.

However, this lady has a phobia of dogs as she has been bitten before and she dare not catch the dog.

PAWS says if she catches the dog and wishes to surrender, they could pick up for a transport fee, but she must catch the dog first. And she must also be aware of PAWS’ policies. I’ve got her in touch with PAWS and will let her liaise directly, but that took many phonecalls.

The reason I work with PAWS despite their euthanasia policy is that if they cannot help, they will say so right on the outset. No false hopes, no false promises. But if they can help, they will honour their word. That’s the way I’d like to work – always honour our word and never give false promises to people. Lives are at stake here. Those who give lip services will cause delay. Delays cost lives, sometimes.

Case 2

A man in USJ1 has been feeding many stray dogs and he has got them all neutered. However, now, someone is threatening to report the dogs to the local council and the council might catch all the dogs and send them to the pound (eventually, euthanised). The man asked if I could take over his dogs.

Er, no, we cannot, as we are not a shelter. So again, I directed him to PAWS and asked him to liaise directly with them. Apparently, the man is even willing to pay the surrender fee for each dog just so they would not be caught by the local council.

I’ve advised the man PAWS’ has their policies and let him liaise directly with them.

So here’s the thing -WHERE do we put these stray animals when their lives are in danger? How many no-kill sanctuaries are there? Most of them are full.

We talk about neutering, neutering, neutering. And this man has neutered the 10 over dogs, yet, the local council (despite our many negotiations) would not spare the ear-notched animals. I was told by them that my job would be to stop people from complaining.

When the complaining stops, the catching stops, and the killing stops, and these animals get to live on, without breeding.

We are already going all out to subsidise neutering. How many cases of neutering have we helped? 854 to date. By doing so, we have helped prevent many, many hundreds of unwanted births.

I guess the next thing we have to concentrate on would be the education bit – to stop people from complaining. And one of the ways to do it would be to cultivate compassion in them. Cliche-ish sounding it may be, but can you think of a better way?

The local councils won’t work with us. We only asked that ear-notched animals be spared. That’s all. It’s a NO.

Last week I gave a talk in KL on kindness to street animals and what people could do. After the talk, a lady came up to ask if we have not proposed our CNRM to the local councils. We have. Believe me, we have. She said why don’t we offer to fund the neutering with the agreement that they will stop catching. We have also offered that as far as we can afford, but it’s still a NO. The local councils believe capture-and-kill will solve the problem. They have not learnt…after decades. Or maybe, there are other reasons why they persist in keeping this method of “control”. Their concern is “public health” and to them, stray animals are a threat to public health and safety.

Do you suppose we could ask the Opposition if they would spare our ear-notched animals should they come into power? No harm trying, though the chances would be bleak knowing animal welfare comes last. And why? Because animals don’t vote?

Can UBAH include ubah-ing the treatment of street animals, I wonder.

It was Abraham Lincoln who said that he would care not for a religion whose dog or cat is not better for it. I agree, and I would further paraphrase him and say I care not for a government whose dog or cat is not better for it.

If only animals could vote (and they outnumber us), we will now see many pet hotels, pet massage parlours, pet grooming salons, free clinics for stray animals, free makan-makan for pets, etc. The sky’s the limit, folks.

But animals cannot vote.

Animal-loving humans can vote, but we are a minority.

It may seem like we are fighting a losing battle, but we cannot give up, because if we do, who will champion the rights of the street animals? Street animals are not only the underdogs (pardon the pun), they are the down and trodden underdogs.

Despite the obstacles that we face, every bit that we do helps the animals.

If we only get ONE animal neutered in this lifetime, we have already helped that one animal to stop producing more street animals which is likely to be subject to abuse. So, please let’s do whatever we can. It does make a difference.

Source: http://myanimalcare.org/2012/04/19/two-more-cases-today-and-how-many-more-every-day/

Tweet

AnimalCare

AnimalCare is a registered society that promotes caregiving to street animals and helps in their neutering and medical needs. AnimalCare has a Medical Fund, Food Fund and Education Fund.

More Articles   |   Pets For Adoption   |   Website