MPS DOES "FABULOUS" JOB OF LOOKING AFTER CAUGHT DOGS

The Malay Mail ran a fantastic article on this whole dog catching competition spectacle today. (Please see Malay Mail front page and page 2 - there seems to be a problem with their online version).

According to the write up by Dawn Chan, the council has yet to receive any dogs as a result from the competition. All of us dog lovers should breathe a huge sigh of relief with this news.

However, I suddenly feel so "terrible" for condemning the Majlis Perbandaran Selayang with regards to their efforts in curbing the stray population after reading this article. They have apparently been "treating all the dogs that have been caught by their enforcement officers really well".

According to the Council's Assistant Environmental Health Officer, En Zulkifli Arrifin and I quote : "They are fed three times a day and bathed twice daily with anti-germ shampoo and deodorant. We have a vet that comes once a week to check on them too".

I nearly fell off my chair when I read this, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to roll on the floor with laughter or stomp around in a fit of rage at these blatant lies. I am finding it quite hard to believe that the Selayang Council has such great concern for these useless strays that pose a menace to the society; particularly when there is a great big picture of 11 dogs in a very small cage.

I do not believe for a minute that the dogs are fed three times a day. I mean first of all most adult dogs are fed once a day by their responsible owners, with sufficient amounts of highly nutritious dog keeble. Of course there are some exceptions where owners may prefer to feed their adult dogs smaller meals twice a day, but this is unusual... But WOW, the Selayang Council feeds their rounded up good for nothing strays, 3 times a day... !!! Well done MPS...you put me, an animal lover, defender and responsible pet owner, to shame.

I must also "commend" them for washing the dogs twice a day, and with anti-germ shampoo at that... Washing a dog is hard work and I can vouch for that. I wash all my dogs personally and can tell you that it takes about 30 minutes for a quick wash and towel dry, per dog. A more thorough wash would take more time than that. And anti-germ shampoos are very expensive. So forgive me if I don't believe their statements...

Also, any responsible pet owner will tell you that a dog should only be washed once a week and they must be dried thoroughly after a bath to prevent them from getting ill. Dogs should only be washed more than once a week if they are suffering from skin infections etc, and that is usually limited to once every 3 days.

No qualified veterinarian will ever advocate that a dog be washed every day, much less twice a day. So why on earth is the Council washing these poor dogs twice a day??? And how come the vet that the MPS has does not tell them otherwise??? This leads me to my next question, does this vet, that supposedly visits the pound once a week, exist???

I am glad that this dog catching competition has sparked so much interest among the people, for it has highlighted to us all that our local councils are indeed caring, responsible and humane towards the stray dogs that are caught. "Kudos to MPS on a job well done!!!