Let’s make it a better world for animals

Yesterday was World Animal Day. The first was held in 1931 in Florence, Italy.

It was set up by a group of ecologists to highlight the plight of endangered animals around the world.

Today, however, the annual occasion covers all animals.

It was set up to remind us all that as humans, the world in which we live in is not ours alone but one that it is to be shared with our animal friends.

Some of the best World Animal Day events which I had the privilege to participate in – as well as to help organise – were those by the Petaling Jaya City Council or MBPJ.

They were the result of MBPJ’s Canine Advisory Team, or CAT – a special monthly meeting group mooted by the council to tackle stray dog management issues.

Because of my passion for animals, I was appointed as chairman by the council together with a team of experts in the field. (After a few months, I was also invited to be chairman of another and new CAT committee set up by the Klang municipality.) 

These included MBPJ’s related departments from health to enforcement divisions to representatives from the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) and animal welfare non-governmental bodies.

To make it more effective and interesting, we went a step further by inviting the rest of the 11 local councils’ vector teams to our sessions.

It was full house every month. The various local councils couldn’t wait to share with us their problems and get everyone’s views on how to tackle them.

All of them were given about 15 minutes each to share with the group the challenges they face in their respective councils. They would do this sometimes with picture slides and videos in order to understand their respective situations.

The first thing I learnt is, contrary to what some people think, the councils are not dog haters.

In fact, I found many of them to be kind and concerned with the animals they had to deal with in each instance.

The problem was that some of them didn’t necessarily possess the skill on effective dog-catching.        

This led our CAT team to join them in a couple of dog-catching exercises in order to familiarise ourselves with what they were up against.

One particular exposure trip was disturbing for me.

It was a joint dog-catching exercise by MBPJ and MPK in Klang, Selangor.

The problem turned out not to be with the dog catchers but with the so-called “pet owners” instead.

We came across several dog owners who kept their dogs outside of their compound rather than inside. This means they had no protection from the sun or rain.  

They would be hanging around the gate and waiting for scraps and leftovers from their owners.

These dogs were never groomed or bathed. Many of them were infested with ticks.

When they got sick, they were also never taken to a veterinarian. If and when they died, another stray dog from somewhere would usually take the dog’s place.

Needless to say, the dogs had no licences.

When the dogcatchers went after the animals, the dogs would run to “their owners” for refuge.

However, instead of owning up to their dogs, the latter would shoo and chase – even kick –them away and deny that the animals were theirs.

(Their neighbours would tell us the truth.)

The owners would never even offer to get a canine licence for them, despite the council suggesting it as an option out of the situation.

It soon became clear to us that these canines were only playing a cheap form of security role for these unscrupulous owners, minus the responsibility. 

Sadly, all the dogs were eventually caught and placed in a venue where all abused, exploited and unwanted canines go – the local pound.

There they howl and pine for their owners to turn up and rescue them but they never do.

On a more positive note, in the five years that I served as councillor for MBPJ, we managed to hold several awareness-raising seminars on World Animal Day.

They were all targeted at responsible pet ownership. We called in experts to talk to dog lovers on the importance of observing the local council laws on dog ownership and respecting the rights of residents who don’t have dogs as pets.

These events were held in Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya and in Klang.    

In the wake of the rabies threat now affecting Penang, Kedah and Perlis, there is an even more urgent need for action.

Local governments, the Department of Veterinary Services and animal welfare NGOs need to work together in creating a better world and place for all animals in our society. – October 5, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.