Shame on you DBKL

Animal torture chamber

By Darshini Kandasamy

February 05, 2009

Barbaric. There is no other way to describe the inhumane manner in which, if found to be true, animals were allegedly put down at a local council-run animal pound in Setapak: cats were drowned and dogs strangled.

Malay Mail was alerted to the alleged monstrosity taking place at the Kuala Lumpur City Hall pound, located at Air Panas, by a member of the public. She claimed to have seen council staff dunking cats in water to drown them and dogs being strangled to death.

She was present at the premises as she had brought her pet to the neutering clinic of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) which operates within the City Hall premises.

Checks with SPCA yesterday revealed the organisation did indeed receive the same complaint on cruelty on Jan 24 and stated they were in touch with the complainant to gather more details of the alleged incident.

It was also learnt that SPCA received a similar report by someone claiming to have seen a dog being strangled at the premises last November.

In the latest report received by the non-govermental organisation, the complainant claimed that the incident happened before 8am while she was waiting for the clinic to open at 9am.

SPCA stressed the incident in question did not involve any of its staff and that although based within the City Hall premises they were a separate entity.

"Ours is a dedicated, low-cost, highly subsidised neutering clinic set up by SPCA with the support of City Hall as a long-term, cost-effective and humane solution to the growing stray population crisis.

"The City Hall Dog Pound is where the dog (and cats) caught by the council are housed temporarily, before being claimed by their owners or euthanised by council staff," said SPCA public relations and marketing department assistant manager Jacinta Johnson.

Jacinta said SPCA had since written an official letter to City Hall’s health director asking for an explanation over both incidents and was in the midst of investigating the case.

She said all councils have been supplied with the Department of Veterinary Services’

"Guidelines on catching and exterminating stray dogs (2008)" yet SPCA continued to receive reports from members of the public on inhumane practices by local councils.

KL Mayor outraged

Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Ahmad Fuad Ismail was outraged and vowed to investigate the matter thoroughly.

He said a life, even that of an animal, must be respected and the strangling and drowning of dogs and cats was not the way to euthanise them.

“If true, that would be very cruel and City Hall is taking a serious view of the matter. Even for a prisoner on death row, we cannot simply strangle him as there are guidelines to follow. “

WHERE IS MARMADUKE?

Relieved: Marmaduke smiling for the camera shortly after his rescue.

Marmaduke with his head bandaged resting at the MNS office before being sent to the vet.

Friday April 4, 2008

Loving home sought for Marmaduke

By WANI MUTHIAH

Colleagues Suzane M. Samy and Ravinder Kaur had the shock of their lives when they went to work on Monday morning.

The Malaysian Nature Society employees were greeted by the sight of a scrawny male dog bleeding profusely from the ear at the entrance of their office located at Federal Hill.

“It was about 8.40am and the first thing that we did was to take the dog around to the other side of the office so that our Muslim colleagues could enter the premises,” said Suzane.

By then, another colleague, June Rubin, had joined them, and the trio fed the dog and found the source of the bleed.

“The inner flap of one of its ears was torn and we managed to bandage the wound before taking the dog to a veterinary clinic in Brickfields,” said Suzane.

The dog has since been named Marmaduke and will be boarding at the veterinary clinic until Sunday before it is relocated to a Buddhist temple in Puchong.

“We feel that Marmaduke was either abandoned by his owners or had wandered away from home and could not find his way back.

“But we do hope his owners or someone would take him in as we feel that it would be better for Marmaduke to belong to a family,’’ said Suzzane.

She said another colleague, Sonny Wong, had approached the temple and its administration had told them that they could keep the dog there provided they supplied its food and gave it a regular bath.

Suzane said she believed that Marmaduke belonged to someone because of his impeccable manners as well as his genteel ways.

“He is a very loving and warm dog and because of this, we think that Marmaduke is used to being around people who treated him well,” she said.

Marmaduke, which was reasonably clean when found, also had well-kept nails.
Suzane and her friends have vaccinated Marmaduke, which has fast recovered from his harrowing ordeal.

Those who know Marmaduke or want to give him a loving home can call Suzane

NASTY OWNER

Saturday April 19, 2008

Marmaduke missing again

By WANI MUTHIAH

THE things that have happened to lost canine Marmaduke since his story appeared in StarMetro about a couple of weeks ago is reflective of some people’s lack of empathy for dogs.

Due to several untoward incidents, Marmaduke is once again missing after running away from a Buddhist temple in Puchong.

The temple administration had agreed to take in the dog after its owner, who had initially come to claim the pet after reading the article, abandoned the canine once again although he settled the bill for Marmaduke’s treatment at a veterinary clinic in Brickfields.

According to Malaysian Nature Society employee Suzane M. Samy, who had found and rescued Marmaduke with some of her colleagues, the dog’s owner had called her as soon as he read the article.

“He said that he had adopted Marmaduke from the Paws animal shelter together with two other puppies a few years ago.

“Al three puppies had canine distemper and only Marmaduke survived,” Suzane said, adding that, coincidentally, the owner had named the dog “Duke.”

However, Marmaduke suffered an ear injury and began bleeding profusely and the owner decided that he could not deal with it.

He then gave Marmaduke to a friend who, in turn, gave the dog to another person who is believed to have thrown it out on the streets.

All this, Suzane said, occurred within three days before Marmaduke ended up, hungry and bleeding from the ears at the MNS doorstep.

Suzane is also miffed that many people who had initially called and offered to take Marmaduke in, retracted their offer after a couple of days.

“Most of them had made the offer at the spur of the moment and it was not based on their genuine desire to help Marmaduke,” she said.

She added that a woman from Taman Tun Dr Ismail had also taken Marmaduke home, only to return it the following day.

“When she called to say that she wanted to take Marmaduke in temporarily until it found a home, I told her to have a look at the dog first at the veterinary clinic in Brickfields where the pet was being kept.

“She told me she didn’t need to look at the dog as she was serious in giving it a temporary home but later said Marmaduke was too frisky for her to handle,” said Suzane.

She added that the main problem people had with the young dog was its big build and frisky, happy-go-lucky demeanour.

Meanwhile, Independent Pet Rescuers (IPR) founding member Sherrina Krishnan lambasted Marmaduke’s owner for abandoning the canine.

“All the nasty things that had happened and probably are still happening to Marmaduke are caused by its first owner’s irresponsibility.

“He should not have taken Marmaduke in the first place if he cannot commit to providing good care and a loving home for the dog,” said Sherrine.

She also chided all those who had offered to take Marmaduke in but chickened out.

“Generally, such people want to look like heroes when they call up to ask about the dog and offer it a home, but they are not sincere in wanting to help,” said Sherrine.

She added that people must realise that dogs were highly sensitive animals that loved their owners unconditionally and suffered from broken hearts when they were abandoned.

WHAT MALAYSIANS SAY

Tied up: This dog cannot run around because it is tied to the gate. This picture was taken at a residential area in Kuala Lumpur.

Publication Date: 02.10.2006
Shock school shooting
I AM a Form Five student in an Ipoh school. On Thursday, a disgusting show of inhumanity was seen in my school. It highlighted the depravity of humans.

For some time, a dog had been sleeping behind the school toilet. By nature, this dog was loving and showed no aggressive behaviour.

It was generally well-liked by the students and was easily ignored as all it did was sleep. It never approached anyone unless they first approached it.

On that day, the Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh (MBI) (City Hall) came into the school grounds and shot the dog in its abdomen in front of our chemistry lab. It upset the girls deeply as the dog did not die immediately and wailed as it bled to death.

The MBI did not shoot it a second time, instead they allowed it to die slowly. Then they carried it off by a hook when it was not completely dead as if it were a carcass at the meat market. The MBI men also waved jovially in the midst of all this as if they had not done something completely barbaric.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”.

I think the general way animals are treated here is appalling. Countries like Australia, New Zealand and England do not shoot dogs as we do yet I never saw a single stray on the street when I was there.

This tells me there is something wrong with our system and the general mind-set of the average Malaysian.

DISGUSTED Ipoh

Publication Date: 07.11.2006

Stop the senseless slaughter of strays

YEARS ago I heard of a law that banned people from using guns to kill stray animals like dogs and cats. There were even guidelines for government bodies to tackle these matters.

Early this year, a dog gave birth to a litter of two pups which grew up as playful little creatures. They were strays, but were never a nuisance. The presence of one particularly active and playful pup really brought cheer to my family especially to my younger cousins and siblings.

Alas, one family living in the area complained about the presence of these dogs and the authorities sent some people to gun them down.

Although I was in school, the news reached my ears when my younger brother, who has just finished PMR, happened to be at home and witnessed the killings.

My mother said she saw blood trails all along the ground on her way to work.


Worse still, another dog that had a litter of three pups was gunned down and her offspring were not spared a similar fate.

What is it with these heartless dog shooters? They even killed puppies because one family complained.

Years ago when a group of stray dogs really did cause a nuisance, we complained but nothing was done. Now two poor, harmless dogs and their pups were gunned down simply for being playful.

Is there justice or even human kindness towards animals anymore?

I think the authorities should investigate this indiscriminate killing of strays.


There's been an uproar about it in Ipoh already and we don’t want it to happen in Malacca.

There is certainly a better way to tackle this problem, like sending these dogs to the SPCA instead of killing them.
audesxerxes
Publication Date: 17.11.2006

Present laws inadequate in protecting animals

EARLY Wednesday morning I heard the agonising yelps of a dog in pain.

I tried to ignore it at first but upon checking, I was shocked to see a man holding an iron bar and hitting two dogs which he had tied up.

I asked him to stop but he continued beating them till one of them died.

The other dog could not stand up and was in pain. When I questioned his cruel act, he said the dogs were disturbing his things.

I felt so helpless that I could not do anything for the animals.

If I report it and am willing to bear the wrath of the man's anger, what are the chances that he will be heavily penalised?

Our present laws are so inadequate in protecting these helpless animals which deserve to live as we do.

I called the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals but was told it could not do anything and that I should call the law enforcement.

I am reluctant to take that step because all the trouble would be for nothing when he gets only fined RM100.

ORDINARY CITIZEN, Malacca.

HOPPY'S PAIN

Publication Date: 22.02.2007

Doc: It’s a cruel joke

Sub Head: Dog found with its forearm tied with bicycle brake cable

Byline: BAVANI M

BARELY two months after Joy the little black dog was rescued from the jaws of death, another case of animal cruelty has surfaced.

This time involving a one-year-old mongrel named Hoppy, which was rescued by a kind soul in Puncak Jalil recently.

Florence Chan found the mongrel with his forearm dangling like a broken twig.

Hoppy was found cringing in pain with a bicycle brake cable tied so tightly around his forearm that it cut through the bone.

“My neighbours’ children alerted me about the dog and when I went to see for myself I was shocked at the condition he was in,'' said Chan.

“I rushed him to a vet in Subang Jaya and he is now recuperating from the ordeal,'' she said.

Dr Vijay who is treating Hoppy said the way the cable was tied around the dog's forearm shows malicious intent.

“It was tied so tight that it practically cut through the bone and caused a 3cm wound that was infected and maggot-filled. This was probably someone's idea of a cruel joke.

“The whole forearm was swollen and the tissues around it dead. We were not sure if the legs could be saved but so far he seems to be responding well to treatment, hence amputation may not be necessary,'' he said.

“The sad part is that he is terrified of humans. He cringes and whimpers when anyone comes near him and retreats to the furthest corner of the cage,'' said Chan.

“I am not sure what to do with him once he fully recovers as I have already adopted three dogs,'' she said, adding that she hoped someone could come forward to adopt Hoppy.

“Hoppy needs sponsors to help pay for the medical expenses and a donor to sponsor him for his lifetime at the Langkawi Animal Shelter and Sanctuary.
“But more importantly he needs to be loved and taught to trust humans again,'' said Chan.

The Seremban Canine Carnage

SEREMBAN'S CANINE CARNAGE - Taken from news reports

02 July 2006

BULLETS were sprayed at them, and with frantic howls, the 13 dogs went down one by one.

Spurting blood stained the floors and walls of the living room, bedrooms, kitchen and backyard of the single-storey terrace house in Seremban, Malaysia.

Empty bullet shells littered the house after the carnage, Malaysian newspapers reported.

The dogs had scuttled throughout the house to escape the gunfire, their flights of terror marked by a trail of faeces.

As their barking ceased and the last whimper faded away, the officers and dog shooters from the Seremban Municipal Town Council started loading the dead dogs onto a lorry.

It was only then that the female enforcement officers released their hold on Ms Eng Choon Mei, 56, and allowed her to enter her home.

She broke down in tears at the sight of the dogs lying in puddles of blood.

'I'm not married and the dogs are my darlings. When I heard their pitiful barking, words could not describe the pain I felt in my heart,' she told China Press and Sin Chew Daily. As the officers drove off, Ms Eng's brother, the dogs' owner, returned home.
Mr Eng Her Sun, 66, had earlier left with 10 of his dogs as he suspected a raid. (See report on page 4.)

She did not dare to tell him what had happened as she was worried that he would not be able to take the shock.

She said: 'It was only when he stepped into the house and saw the dogs' blood everywhere that I told him everything from the beginning.'

Shortly after her brother had driven off, around 9am on Thursday, a group of 50 officers and dog shooters had arrived at their house in vans, lorries and on motorcycles.

Ms Eng said she was doing laundry outside the house at the time.

One of the officers had shown her a court order and demanded to be let into the house.

He told her that they were there to enforce the court order forbidding her brother to keep his dogs at home.

LOCKED FRONT DOOR

Ms Eng immediately turned around and walked into the house. She padlocked the metal gate and locked the wooden front door.

With the door slammed in their faces, the officers brought out lock cutters to remove the padlock.

They then broke a hole in the door and entered the house.

Ms Eng said she had tried her best to protect the dogs, but several female officers managed to drag her out of the house.

'Two dog shooters then went in to kill the dogs. At the same time, 10 officers assisted them by herding the dogs to be shot,' she said.

The whole operation took half an hour.

The team of enforcement officers from the Seremban Municipal Council had been sent to cull the 25 dogs kept in the Engs' home.

Council president Abdul Halim Abdul Latif said Mr Eng's neighbours had been complaining about the stench and incessant barking from the dogs.

Earlier attempts to get Mr Eng to move his dogs from the terrace house had failed.

So a court order was obtained in December, giving the officers the authority to cull the dogs.

However, Mr Abdul Halim said the council gave Mr Eng a grace period of six months to move the dogs out.

When no action was taken after the grace period ended, council officers held several rounds of talks with Mr Eng, but to no avail.

Council officers had brought along several veterinary department officers as the initial plan was to tranquilise the dogs first.

But the dogs became violent and tried to attack the officers.

Mr Abdul Halim said: 'The veterinary officers warned against going ahead with our plan. We were forced to shoot the dogs.'

Mr Eng claimed the officers had trespassed his home and is contemplating legal action against them.

He panics and escapes with 10 dogs in car

WHEN Mr Eng Her Sun, 66, suspected that his 25 beloved dogs were in danger, he took matters into his own hands.

Before the authorities could enter his house and get the doomed pooches, he packed 10 of them into his car and drove off.

While making his getaway, Mr Eng crashed his car into a motorcycle belonging to one of the officers there to cull the animals.

He managed to save the 10 dogs, but while he was gone, the 13 that remained in his house were all shot dead.

Another two are unaccounted for.

Mr Eng said, almost in tears: 'These dogs are just some strays with no one to look after them. I took them in because I pitied them.

'Did I do anything wrong? Did the dogs do anything wrong? Why did the authorities have to be so cruel?'

Mr Eng's sister, Ms Eng Choon Mei, 56, said her brother loved the dogs very much.

She told the China Press that her brother spent all day looking after the animals, sometimes staying up past 2am.

She said: 'He paid for their care out of his own savings. I didn't contribute at all.'

Ms Eng added that the dogs were fed chicken every day, even though she and her brother could barely afford it.

Mr Eng said he had tried to get permits for the dogs, but only managed to get approval for two of them.

He claimed that he had also tried moving some of the dogs to an empty house nearby, but council officers trailed him. He decided to move them back home again.

But his efforts came to naught when the dogs were killed on Thursday morning.

Mr Eng said, almost in tears: 'They (the dogs) are my best friends. Is it wrong for me to keep them in my own house? Now, I have lost all my happiness.'
Buddhist rites for slain dogs

by NURADZIMMAH DAIM,

The Malay Mail, July 11, 2006 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia -- THE 'Unlucky 13' were given their final rites yesterday. The 13 dogs, shot dead by the Seremban Municipal Council (MPS) last month after their owner refused to comply with the council's order to relocate the canines, received prayers at a ceremony organised by animal lovers, last night.

More than 200 members of Malaysia Fo Guang Shan, a Buddhist organisation, gathered at their branch in SS3, Petaling Jaya, to offer prayers for the dogs.

One of its members, Ong Wan Kah, said the prayer, known as the Diamond Repentance Dharma ceremony, is to transfer merits to the dogs.

"Although we usually have this prayer twice a month, tonight's occasion is special. We want to let the public know that it is not right to just take away the lives of animals.

"Also, apart from the dogs that were killed, we are also performing prayers for the chickens and birds that died of bird flu, and other animals," said Ong, who works with the organisation's publishing division.

He stressed, however, that the prayer was not only meant for the deceased. "We also pray for others beings that are still alive, for fortune and good luck," he said.

Ong said 66-year-old Eng Her Sun, the owner of the 13 dogs, had stepped forward to relate the incident to the organisation's abbot, Reverend Hui Xian, last Wednesday.

The abbot advised him not to dwell on the matter and carry on with life.

"The abbot also advised him not to bear any grudges and instead, think of ways to help relocate his remaining dogs. The owner must also shoulder his responsibility as the municipal council is the authority on the matter," he said.

Also present at the prayers was Malaysian Animal Welfare Foundation education officer, Sabrina Yeap.

In the June 29 incident, MPS workers, armed with a court order, arrived at Eng's terrace house in Taman Desa Rasah to cull his dogs.

They claimed that Eng, who kept 26 dogs in his house, had repeatedly ignored the council's notices over six months to relocate his dogs as their incessant barking and smell had become a nuisance to neighbours.

The workers allege that Eng refused to co-operate and the dogs turned aggressive when they entered the compound.

Eng allegedly put 13 dogs in his car and drove off. The workers then shot the remaining 13.

The move by MPS was described by barbaric and cruel by animal welfare organisations. However, other groups have argued that the council had no choice as Eng did not comply with regulations despite being given time to do so.

Several animal groups, including the Independent Pet Rescuers organisation, have since helped Eng relocate 11 of his dogs to a farm in Dengkil.


The Eng's bloodied living room

SEREMBAN: As animal lovers howled with outrage over the killing of 13 dogs by the municipal council at a house here, questions arose as to whether the dogs were indeed a nuisance.

The Seremban Municipal Council maintains that exasperated neighbours complained about the dogs, but a neighbour said they had got used to the dogs and no one complained.

And the owner of the dogs, Eng Her Sun, grieved over his lost "children" at his Taman Rasah Jaya terrace house yesterday.

Eng said: "My house became a killing field. There was blood everywhere. I not only lost my dogs but I also had to spend hours cleaning the blood. This is so inhumane. Those dogs were like my children."

Joy's Tragic Tale

JOY

At about 9am on Dec 2, 2006, Sabrina Yeap, managing partner of the Furry Friends Farm (FFF), rescued a dog at the Ki-Park Sri Utara construction site belonging to developer, Kepong Industrial Park Sdn Bhd (KIP Group).

The lower jaw of the dog was dangling and his tongue was hanging out. Two eye-witnesses who pleaded with Sabrina to help the dog, said they had seen him being beaten by Indonesian foreign workers who kept calling the dog “haram” (forbidden in Islam)as he was attacked.

Sabrina took the dog, which she later named Joy, to the veterinary clinic. Joy’s lower jaw was so badly injured it had to be surgically removed, but the tongue was saved despite having lacerations and blood clots.

Today Joy has to carry on living without his lower jaw and teeth. He can only eat soft food for the rest of his life.