NUFF NANG

Monday, February 23, 2009

DOES THE MAYOR OF KL EVEN CARE?

I have to apologise for not being able to translate the full episode aired by TV3's 360 - I haven't had the time unfortunately.

I would like to thank 360's presenter and producer, Mazidul Akmal Sidik, for highlighting the plight of the animals in our country once again.

I would also like to congratulate all the animal activists who turned up at the DBKL pound for the peaceful protest against the brutal treatment of the animals by the staff of DBKL, and also to those who "rescued" a large number of dogs and puppies from a painful and cruel death.

I am unsure as to whether all the rescued dogs have been re-homed at the moment, but will do my best to keep everyone uptoday.

In the mean time, I am disappointed that the Mayor of KL seems to have backtracked on his promise to conduct a thorough investigation on this issue - as is clearly evidenced in the videos that I have previously posted.

The contradicting statements made by the Mayor are also reported by The Malay Mail and The Star. I am attaching the articles here as well in case the links don't work.

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The Malay Mail : Animal Torture Chamber
February 5, 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.

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.

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The Star - Mayor : Killings sensationalised
February 18, 2009

THE alleged killing of stray dogs at the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) animal pound in Setapak was blown out of proportion, said Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Ahmad Fuad Ismail.

The mayor, who had instructed his officers to conduct an investigation, said the visuals shown over TV3 programme 360° showing a dog pound worker dragging a dying dog with a loop around its neck was not entirely correct.

“The dog was already dead after our officers had euthanised it. What was shown on TV was a worker dragging a dead dog. It was not strangled or its neck fractured as reported,’’ he said.
While the mayor acknowledged that whole process should have been better managed, he, however, denied that the dogs were brutally killed at the DBKL dog pound.

“We have been operating the pound for over seven years in collaboration with the SPCA and there has never been such an incident,’’ he said.

On the issue of the burial method, the mayor said the landfill in Bukit Taga refused to take the carcasses so DBKL had to bury the dead dogs inside the pound. But this was done under the Dog Licensing and Canal bylaws.

The process involves digging several holes which are about 6ft deep. The hole is layered with lime dust as a disinfectant. Each hole can take in about 60 dogs and the process is repeated months later.

“As bad as it may sound, there is no other way to do this as the cost of having an incinerator is too expensive,” Fuad said.

Under the Dog Licensing and Canal bylaws 1991, stray dogs caught by the DBKL will be kept for seven days before they are put to sleep.

“The cost of catching a dog is RM30 and feeding and euthanising a dog costs RM120.

“The DBKL catches some 8,000 stray dogs a year. Last year alone, over 7,800 dogs were put down at the Setapak dog pound,” Fuad said.

The mayor said if they were to engage a veterinarian to administer the injections, it would cost more. Fuad, however, promised to look into all aspects of the situation and better manage it.

The DBKL, in collaboration with the SPCA, had initiated the Klinik Kembiri programme a few years ago whereby cats and dogs are spayed to prevent unwanted stray population. Since 2003, over 8,000 cats and dogs have been spayed.

BEAR AT THE MAYHEW



Hi all...

I have been meaning to post this from last week - but unfortunately I have been swamped!

Anyway, Bear is a GIANT of a dog that has finally arrived at The Mayhew Animal Home from Afghanistan. Bear was a dog meant for fighting in Afghanistan, and has had his ears and tail docked. He was very lucky to have escaped his fate, and has recently been brought to England, and finally to Mayhew.

I have had the privilege to meet Bear - tho I have yet to have any contact with him as he is over 6ft tall when he stands up... Hopefully he will find a new home soon... Here are some links to Bear's story....
  1. CNN
  2. BBC
  3. London Informer
  4. This is London
  5. Worthing Herald

Thursday, February 12, 2009

TV3's 360 - BRUTAL KILLINGS BY DBKL

Hi all,

I've just been notified that TV3's 360 did a full episode on the plight of our animals... Here are the videos... I have yet to watch it myself as I am currently in the office. But will work on translating the necessary as soon as I can...

In the mean time, keep up the pressure... we can make a change!!!!

Regards
natasha





Tuesday, February 10, 2009

PROTEST AT DBKL - VIDEO

NOTE: There will be a follow up piece on this issue by TV3's 360, this Wednesday 11 February at 9pm. Remember to watch this episode.
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I think this video says alot about how our council looks upon the welfare of our animals...

HELP MALAYSIA'S FURRY FRIENDS...

Hi all,

I would appreciate it if all of you could take a few minutes to protest the cruel killings of dogs by DBKL . You can do this by writing in to DBKL and our Malaysian press...

Please write to the Mayor of KL. His contact details are:

Dato' Ahmad Fuad bin Ismail
Datuk Bandar Kuala Lumpur (Mayor of Kuala Lumpur)
Tingkat 27, Bangunan DBKL,
Jalan Raja Laut,50350 Kuala Lumpur

General Line: 03 - 2617 9064
Fax (mayor's office): 03 - 2692 9898
Fax (Administration Office): 03- 2691 9664
P.A : Rosmah bt. Abdullah
Email : dbkl@dbkl.gov.my

Shaari bin Ahmad Junid
Pegawai Khas Datuk Bandar (Mayor's Special Assistant)
Tingkat 27, Bangunan DBKL,
Jalan Raja Laut,50350 Kuala Lumpur
Tel : 03 - 2617 9071
Fax : 03 - 2691 9664

Click here for the Email addresses of all the local press.

Thanks guys...

CRUEL KILLINGS OF DOGS BY DBKL

A number of you have indicated that you were unable to understand parts of the you Tube clip that I posted previously as it was in Malay. I have only just had the time to translate the video, and I hope that this will be helpful.

I am also reposting the video here...



Note that the relevant parts of the video are from 01:18 - 05:00

01:23 – 01:56 Sub title: You Tube clip – violence against animal overseas

01:57 – 02:22 Suraya: It was by chance that I saw cruel killings of dogs and cats, where the dogs were strangled to death, and the cats were drowned in containers of water. And If they didn’t drown, they would beat the cats till they died.

02:44 – 03:09 Presenter: This is what was alleged by people who contacted 360. Based on this 360 went to the pound located in DBKL’s Health Department in Setapak. This visual was recorded at 8am last Friday.

04:06-04:15 Presenter: According to Suraya these activities commence as early as 7am involving over 15 workers.

04:16 – 04:41 Suraya: I tried to complain to the relevant depts, like the Animal Control Department, SPCA etc. Most of them said that they were unaware of this problem. However, this should not happen anyway. Although they are dogs and animals, we as humans must have a heart and feelings, and must protect the rights of these animals

04:42 – 04:54 Presenter: If the allegations by Suraya and Chan are true, these cruel killings of the animals must be stopped immediately. 360 will endeavour to broadcast the response from these accused parties involved next week.

The video can also be watched at http://www.tv3.com.my/ . You just need to register on the website to watch it.

For pictures of what happened at the protest, please see Facebook. Although I was personally not there, I was horrifed at what my friends discovered - the pictures were heart wrenching... I cannot understand how anyone can have the heart to treat other living beings this way...

Friday, February 06, 2009

PROTEST THE CRUELTY OF OUR COUNCILS!

THE PROTEST
There will be a peaceful gathering at the DBKL pound in Setapak THIS WEEKEND to protest against this case. The media has been alerted too.
DATE: Saturday, 7th February 2009
TIME: 11:00am
VENUE:Pusat Kurungan Haiwan DBKL / DBKL Health Department Pound
Off Jalan Air Jerneh Kampung Air Kuning
Air Panas, Setapak
53300 Kuala Lumpur
Google map is available at http://tinyurl.com/dbklpound

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The number of emails in my inbox over the last 2 days has been quite crazy...

I wish I could have responded sooner, but in any case most of you would have known by now that TV3 aired a damning revelation on it's programme 360 on Wednesday night.

For those of you who missed the programme, here's a snippet of it (see 01:18 - 05:00). Note that the dog is still breathing at 04:54...

Also see the article by Malay Mail regarding the issue.



I am not terribly surprised regarding the content of the programme - as I have had to deal with our local councils before - and the experience was not pleasant. See my previous posts here and also for first hand accounts from me on THE HELLISH CONDITIONS in the pounds.

What I am surprised is that this took place in the Setapak pound, where SPCA has a permanent station and neutering clinic. So what I would like to know is how can all this cruelty take place right under the noses of the SPCA?

In any case I need to say kudos to TV3 for revealing the truth, and I would also like to inform everyone that there will be a peaceful protest against the council this Saturday. Please spread the word, and remember every little counts.

A concerned and distressed Natasha

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

DR ASRI - FORMER MUFTI OF PERAK

Interesting speech by Dr Asri - the former mufti of Perak on Islam and animals - in particular pigs and dogs. Thanks to Kittun for highlighting this.

CLEO'S OBSESSION WITH BALLS

When Cleo was a puppy, we had serious trouble trying to train her... but that was because at her obedience classes, we were constantly told to use "treats" and "snacks" to get her to do things... And it just didn't work - cause Cleo was not your regular Lab.

She didn't really care for food and snacks - and to this day, if you offered her a snack and a ball - she'd choose the ball, any ball... here are some pictures of her going "mad" with her new basket ball...

So now we know better and we only use tennis balls to train her and keep her attention! Here are some pictures that I took over my Christmas break in KL...


Cleo - full attention on the basket ball - which was above the camera

Cleo bounding in and out of our Landy in pursuit of her basket ball


Tuesday, February 03, 2009

SNOWED IN...

This was the most snow I have ever experienced in London! Out here in the Docklands, where I live, we had about 10 inches of snow I think...

Well it wasn't as much compared to the amount of snow that one would get in Canada or America... but it was enough to bring London to a grinding halt...

Yup, that meant that I couldn't go to the office yesterday cause there were no trains or busses or anything for that matter... If only Cleo was here with me, we would have had a grand time in the snow...



Sunday, February 01, 2009

HELP FIND ARJUN...

Please help find Arjun...

ARJUN is a 10 year old male, medium-sized (20kg) local breed; he is a friendly, loving, well-mannered & obedient family dog & was wearing his MBPJ license tag & an ID tag (with our home address/phone numbers/e-mail) when he went missing. Arjun is lost and is trying to find his way back home to SS1 Petaling Jaya.

Please visit http://arjuncreamie.blogspot.com/ for details...

Nuffnang