Excellent Letter In Malaysiakini!
If you can't treat your pet right, then don't get one
Natasha FernzFeb 16, 07 5:04pm
PUBLISHED IN MALAYSIAKINI
I was walking my Labrador, Cleo, as usual in the morning yesterday - we had to stop a million times to say hello to all her doggie friends that walk along the same track as usual - when we met a new Labrador.
The owner was running with the dog and the dog was just so happy to be with her. We stopped and the two of them said their hellos and then we carried on. I noticed, however, that the Labrador looked rather old and worn out. And he had lots of chaff marks on his legs and neck. My initial assumption was that he was probably very old. Then we ran into each other again on our second lap of the track and this time we stopped to chat.
The owner was a very nice lady, though I didn’t get her name - all of us dog-mad people seem to be more concerned with knowing the names of the dogs only. I then found out that she had only recently obtained Wallace (her Labrador).
She had rescued him from a neighbour who actually just left the dog in a very small cage when they moved house. Apparently this dog has been living in that cage with hardly any room to move for two whole years - from when they got him as a puppy. He was only let out for a short period of time to go to the toilet.
And these people just abandoned him when they decided to move. They left him in the cage with no food or water. This lady managed to get into the compound and get the dog out after a few days when she realised that he had been abandoned.
Wallace could not walk because his muscles were not developed from being in the cage his entire life. She has had to slowly build him up by feeding him a special diet and also by exercising him a little bit at a time.
He is now doing very well, although he looks five timeS his age. He's only two-and-half-years old. How can people be so cruel? I just don't understand it.
I really hope that our society will progress and become more aware of animal rights. Owning a pet, be it a dog or cat, is a serious commitment. You must ensure that you can provide your pet with all that it needs, and by this I don't just mean food. Your pet needs companionship, exercise and adequate veterinarian care.
I would like to appeal to everyone to please think carefully before getting a pet. It's a lifelong commitment. If you can't treat your pet right, then don't get one.
I would also like to appeal to the government to impose stricter rules and harsher penalties against all those who are cruel to animals. The current penalty is a mere slap on the wrist. I think that a minimum jail term of five years should be imposed on those who are guilty of mistreating animals. A mere fine just won't do the job.
Natasha FernzFeb 16, 07 5:04pm
PUBLISHED IN MALAYSIAKINI
I was walking my Labrador, Cleo, as usual in the morning yesterday - we had to stop a million times to say hello to all her doggie friends that walk along the same track as usual - when we met a new Labrador.
The owner was running with the dog and the dog was just so happy to be with her. We stopped and the two of them said their hellos and then we carried on. I noticed, however, that the Labrador looked rather old and worn out. And he had lots of chaff marks on his legs and neck. My initial assumption was that he was probably very old. Then we ran into each other again on our second lap of the track and this time we stopped to chat.
The owner was a very nice lady, though I didn’t get her name - all of us dog-mad people seem to be more concerned with knowing the names of the dogs only. I then found out that she had only recently obtained Wallace (her Labrador).
She had rescued him from a neighbour who actually just left the dog in a very small cage when they moved house. Apparently this dog has been living in that cage with hardly any room to move for two whole years - from when they got him as a puppy. He was only let out for a short period of time to go to the toilet.
And these people just abandoned him when they decided to move. They left him in the cage with no food or water. This lady managed to get into the compound and get the dog out after a few days when she realised that he had been abandoned.
Wallace could not walk because his muscles were not developed from being in the cage his entire life. She has had to slowly build him up by feeding him a special diet and also by exercising him a little bit at a time.
He is now doing very well, although he looks five timeS his age. He's only two-and-half-years old. How can people be so cruel? I just don't understand it.
I really hope that our society will progress and become more aware of animal rights. Owning a pet, be it a dog or cat, is a serious commitment. You must ensure that you can provide your pet with all that it needs, and by this I don't just mean food. Your pet needs companionship, exercise and adequate veterinarian care.
I would like to appeal to everyone to please think carefully before getting a pet. It's a lifelong commitment. If you can't treat your pet right, then don't get one.
I would also like to appeal to the government to impose stricter rules and harsher penalties against all those who are cruel to animals. The current penalty is a mere slap on the wrist. I think that a minimum jail term of five years should be imposed on those who are guilty of mistreating animals. A mere fine just won't do the job.
posted by Shoba @ 10:01 AM
4 Comments:
At 1:50 PM,
Natasha Fernz said…
Hello...
Didn't expect the letter to get published. Am glad that they did...
Anyway Wallace is doing great, although we haven't seen him this week, as the owner has sent him to be neutred. So he's resting at home. He should be back running with her next week... Will update you on how he's doing!
At 9:11 AM,
Shoba said…
Well done, Natasha! I'm so proud of you. Every letter helps, regardless of whether they publish. The fact that MK did shows you that these are issues that DOES interest its readers.
Thank you so very much for writing about Wallace. Please tell his keeper (RSC prefers to use animal friendly terms such as "keeper" rather than "owner" as morally we can't really own an animal. They belong to God) about your letter being published in MK and also on RSC's blog.
I'm sure she will be very happy. This encourages ppl to go on rescuing animals and being neighbourhood watchmen to keep an eye out for abuse.
I would just like to share what my vet told me two days ago. He showed me a dog that was boarding at his clinic.
He took her for a walk and she suddenly jumped causing the leash to slip out of his hand. She ran across the highway of speeding cars and then all along the road on the opposite side of where the vet was standing.
My vet said he was amazed when he saw so manyh cars stopping to help. People genuinely cared and began chasing after the dog to rescue it.
Finally one Chinese man managed to get a hold of the dog. This man just opened his car door and gently coaxed the dog to get inside. Then he began looking around for the dog's keeper until he found the vet.
The vet said ppl did not even see him because he was too far down the road from the dog and the vet is elderly in his 60s and could not give chase.
Despite not seeing anyone running after the dog, the drivers still detected that the dog was in trouble and didn't want it to be hit by passing cars.
The vet said he had not seen anything like it - where so many Malaysians stop on a highway to help a dog.
And that's because of all of YOU who don't wish to remain silent rescuers anymore, but LOUD MOUTHED WITNESSES testifying to the ethical treatment of animals.
So let's carry on being LOUD MOUTHS for our furry and feathered friends :)
At 5:51 PM,
Natasha Fernz said…
Hi Shoba...
Noted: will use keeper or perhaps guardian? instead of owner...
though in fairness I think my darling doggies own me...
Will carry on writing as much as I can. Thank you for caring too. Every little bit counts I guess.
At 3:13 PM,
disco-very said…
amazing piece natasha! great to know that malaysiakini was in the right state of mind to not disregard the issue. if the advancement of a country is to a very large extent reflected in its attitude towards animals, then there's a lot of work to be done in malaysia!
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