Volunteers from Zero Strays Miri rescuing the two dogs from the empty house.
MIRI: Animal welfare group Zero Strays Miri wants the authorities to be more organised in efforts to rescue severely neglected or abused pets such as cats and dogs.
Zero Strays Miri president Sterwina Kho raised alarm bells following the discovery of two abandoned dogs that were left locked up in a house without food and water for more than a month.
Volunteers from the group rescued the two dogs from a residential house in Desa Senadin about 20km north of Miri City last Saturday.
Volunteer Dorine Lau said they found out about the case following complaints call by neighbours who recently moved in.
“The condition of the two dogs was critical and we saw they were almost dead and down to just skin and bones.
“The neighbour and other volunteers here were a great help.
“Apparently, the owner knows the dogs were left there for one month as he has gone back to his longhouse for Gawai celebrations,” Kho said.
The volunteers sought help from the police and the veterinary department to break open the lock in order to enter the compound.
Kho said in cases like this, the authorities should have a coordinated approach and once alerted, they should act to rescue the animals immediately, without waiting to just penalise the owners.
“In peninsular Malaysia, the authorities are getting stricter in terms of helping strays and abused animals.
“The authorities there are quite coordinated and this must happen in Sarawak too.
“This is just one of the prolonged animal abuse cases we have come across,” Kho said.
