KTMB’s Odd Explanation For Dog Abuse On Its Premises

RSC's letter sent to Malaysia Kini:

I refer to M Nisha’s letter published in Malaysiakini on March 17, 2010 regarding a stray dog she and her friends found at KTMB, tied to a grille with its neck arched back and a wooden stick down its throat. Malaysia kini published the horrific photos.

The Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better (MDDB) published on March 20, a statement it received from KTMB in response to Nisha’s published letter.

KTMB's letter, seems overly eager to exonerate DBKL, even groveling by saying “We hope DBKL is willing to accept our sincere apology.” The full letter may be read here:

http://malaysiandogsdeservebetter.blogspot.com/

The sad fact is how are we to believe DBKL is not at fault when DBKL and other municipal councils all over Malaysia have been accused of so many dog abuses for years now and reported in the press too.

Why should we believe this case was different? Wasn’t DBKL in the news just last February when TV3, through its programme called 360, exposed DBKL Setapak for beating stray dogs to death and drowning stray cats. What happened to the Selangor state allocation for humane euthanasia? Where did this money go if it was not being put to the use it was allocated for?

Worse, KTMB President writes in his letter that KTMB called the Selayang council to seize the dog in Nisha’s photos. The Selayang council are now in the press for allegedly leaving dogs to die of starvation and thirst in their pound -and this has been going on for years!!!

This is also the same council which offered prize money up to RM15,000 to the public for their controversial dog catching competition which it scraped after public expressed their outrage.

Another article in the Star dated April 26, 2008 reported that DBKL was going on a dog poisoning spree around Old Klang Road where an eye-witness’ pet nearly died from eating the contaminated food.

A person left a comment on Cicak.com to an article by Davina Goh that she was an eye-witness to dog catchers dragging a female dog forcefully by the neck “while she was still giving birth”. Are these demons born with mothers and sisters?

Wasn’t it also a municipal council that encouraged residents of Pulau Ketam to trap and dump stray dogs on watery islands?

These dogs were left to starve and die of thirst. Those that tried to escape to the nearby kelongs were promptly thrown back into the sea by workers. So desperate was their situation that some dogs began cannibalizing the weak ones while they were still alive.

A Star newspaper article dated April 9, 2009 reported that the Majlis Perbandaran Klang councilor in charge of Pulau Ketam paid the residents money to commit this heinous act.

After so much has happened over all these years, KTMB would have us believe that their staff was “sadly mistaken” when he accused DBKL of shoving the wood down a poor stray dog’s throat and tied it on its back to a grill with the wood sticking up.

Serene LEE Siew Yin wrote in her letter of complaint to the Prime Minister copied to the local councils that, “The stick that has been used to stuff into the dog's throat has also been identified as the pole normally used by council dog catchers”.

KTMB claimed their staff and not DBKL restrained the dog and it was not as horrific as Nisha claimed it to be. The dog, says the letter, bit on the wood and the staff couldn’t remove it. The photo clearly shows the end of the stick easily a good way into the dog’s throat and KTMB must think we are fools to disbelief the photo and believe them!

KTMB’s President has clearly admitted in his letter to MDDB that it is KTMB that is responsible for this despicable act upon the dog. So, why isn’t Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) taking action against KTMB? Malaysia’s Animal Act 2006 compels them to act on animal abuse reports.

Due to the failure of the municipal councils, the DVS, the failure of existing animal shelters which are no more than just dumping grounds for unwanted pets, ordinary Malaysians are forced to work in groups called independent rescuers, scouring the streets to rescue and re-home strays.

The limited resources of these people are stretched further now that they have to play advocate to fight for the rights of these animals when every establishment set up to protect them has failed.

In western countries animal shelters are more pro-active in educating the public on animal welfare issues and advocate and lobby for them before the government.

In Malaysia we only hear from animal shelters for donations or when there is a scandal big enough for public outcry reported in the newspapers.

I shudder to consider the fate of animals in Malaysia if not for organizations like MDDB and other loose bands of independent rescuers tirelessly receiving strays into their homes and hearts, feeding and caring and re-homing.

Why should all these rescuers spend their own money and time doing this? The rescuers are falling sick from the enormity of the problem, but bless their hearts, they can't turn away and struggling to cope as best they can.

What are the DVS and councils being paid for? Why are taxpayers money going to these government departments for work they are not doing?

Something is very wrong when you live in a country where such acts of cruelty is rampant...to the point that the public are sickened to the pits of their stomachs...and then find out there is NO WHERE, NO ONE, NO HELP, NO RECOURSE WHATSOEVER for such crimes to be reported, punished and ensured it will not happen again. Why?

The frightening truth is the very people who are supposed to protect these animals are themselves being accused of this abuse, on the one hand, like the municipal councils, and on the other hand like the DVS and Wildlife Department taking no action against animal abuses.

Please, please register to vote if you are not yet a voter and vote for Pakatan Rakyat.