Neglected dogs still an issue

KLANG: It’s been a week since the discovery of about 100 emaciated dogs at a Selangor dog pound, but the heart-wrenching scene is still distressing animal lovers.

To them, it is upsetting that such neglect is happening to this day, as the incident at the Kuala Langat Municipal Council (MPKL) pound is not an isolated case.

Dr Chan Kah Yein, who is from AnimalCare, recounted the sorry tale of starving dogs found at another municipal council in February 2010.

Dr Chan, who had gone there on a rescue mission after being tipped off about the situation, was horrified by what she saw.

She claimed there were also litters of puppies infested with ticks and “having nothing to eat except plain rice”.

Since then, she has carried out rescue efforts at the request of two other municipal councils.

“In both places, the dogs were in equally deplorable condition,” she said.

Following this incident, independent rescuer Mandy Chee recounted a grisly scene when she visited the pound of another municipal council.

“The dogs were all skin and bones. And there were dead dogs in the enclosures. Workers hosed the place down with a high-powered water jet to get rid of the faeces.

“As a result, the dogs and puppies were cold and shivering,’’ she said.

Last week’s case at the MPKL pound came to light when pictures and videos of the dogs’ condition were circulated on social media.

The dogs had been caught and placed at the pound pending euthanasia, but judging from the images, many were already dying.

It appeared that they had not been fed for quite a while, although this had been denied by the council, which said that the dogs were fed twice daily.

Animal lovers believed that such neglect is common in Selangor, which has seven municipal councils, three City Halls and one district council.

Not all 11 local authorities have their own pounds, though.

Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better (MDDB) director Irene Low claimed that there had been incidents of council workers keeping dogs in vans under the hot sun, sometimes for a few days, until they were put out of their misery.

She said the MPKL incident became public knowledge as the council allowed people to visit the site and take pictures.

“Others would not permit this,” she said.

“Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari must instruct all the local councils in the state to allow representatives from registered and licensed rescue groups to check on the welfare of the dogs in their pounds from time to time,’’ she said.

Low said that many people assumed that local councils would take care of the dogs or put them up for adoption.

“It is time people learned that the catching and culling method has proven to be a failure and that the Trap-Neuter-Release-Manage option is better,” she said.

She expressed hope that Selangor Ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah would address the issue of animal abuse in his royal address at the opening of the state assembly in March, so that the problem would get highlighted further.