THE recent announcement by the Kajang Municipal Council that it will impose a fine on those found guilty of feeding strays is based on the widespread misconception that these animals’ natural diet is the healthiest form of food for them. The council has suggested that their survival instincts help them to stay alive without a need for human intervention. It further justified its action by suggesting that foods left by feeders may attract rodents and create unhygienic conditions that pose public health risks.
However, this is far from the truth, except perhaps for the need to clear the food remnants that may attract flies and rats. Domesticated animals, namely cats and dogs, have coexisted with humans for centuries, and cats, for example, have been revered in the days of Pharoah as companions to humans in the afterlife, while dogs have been useful, and are still useful for driving out wild scavengers which destroy plantations while being good house guards. Wildlife, such as birds and monkeys, on the other hand, have increasingly come in contact with human civilisations primarily due to the fact they have been driven out of their habitats as a result of unhinged and unchecked capitalist development.
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