Image Taken From The Star
God created humans and gave us the best that he can offer when he blessed us with great thinking capabilities in order to come up with the best solution to complex situations. Unfortunately, it is too often when we encountered issues put forward without much thought of the sequence of events that may follow. For example, the Municipal Council of Selayang has put forward the proposal to conduct a dog catching competition among it's residents in order to control the stray dog population in the area. The winners of such competition stands to win a large sums of RM 15 000, RM 13 000 and RM 11 000. In order to be eligible for the prize money, the participant must catch a minimum of 150 strays alive and the council has even put a disclaimer clause that says it is not responsible for any mishaps that may occur during the event.
When I 1st read about this issue I was appalled and disgraced to such extend I nearly burst out crying. I was very sad beyond disbelieve that our leaders could endorse such inhumane activity and even took a step further to turn it into a sports carnival. What were they thinking when they endorsed this? Did they even have any discussion with the local animal shelters as well as other bodies related to the issues on how solve the stray dog problem in that area? I'm a proud Malaysian with an Australian PR and every now and then I would tell everyone I met on how great my birth country is when it comes to peace, harmony and how loving we Malaysians are towards animals. Unfortunately this current issue has made me glad to be an Australian PR as they are very civilised upon tackling such issues due to the intense pressure by the animal rights activists in the country.
To the Selayang Municipal Council, I would like to put forward the following questions on behalf of all the animals lovers in Malaysia:
1. How are you able to identify that the strays caught are from your vicinity as the participants are mobile to round up dogs from other areas as well?
2. How confident are you that the activity would not turn into a bloodbath when protesters try to intervene the catchers on the actual hunt day?
3. How are you going to ensure that all dogs caught are actually strays as participants may result to stealing them from unaware owners forgotten to lock their gates as pet dogs are more amicable to follow strangers around?
4. Why don't you have a discussions with the local shelters as well as prominent figures with authority to deal with such issues on how best to overcome it?
It is still not too late to back down from your decision. You are dealing with a lot of concern citizens of ALL races as well getting overseas pressure pertaining to this issue. I for one vouch to write to overseas bodies that will help to add more pressure and will try my best to stop it from happening.
If an inconspicuous individual like me, who is only a member of Paws and a friend of TFFF is willing to go such length, what more a group of us. Please change your mind and put the event on hold. I sincerely believe that a better solution is obtainable if you are willing to hold a meeting to discuss about it. You only encountered a small group of us yesterday as it was a working day. Nevertheless, if you were to carry out this activity, you'll encounter thousands who will decent upon your door in protest. We do not need any civil unrest in any nature, may it be political or not. Please reconsider before it's too late.
My plight to stop the dog catching competition was further highlighted in www.Lovdog.com, an online animal loving Chinese community.
Readers who are in support of stopping this inhumane activity can write to me via annlivingwithikaserenacandpietro@yahoo.com. All mails will be compiled and further forwarded to MPS to show our support and unity in stopping the competition from taking place. Thank you.
