\nThere is no guideline that the authorities assigned to shoot stray dogs can do so inside the compounds of people’s houses, the Tampin Municipal Council said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Its secretary, Zulhilmi Marzuki, told this to The Malay Mail<\/em> when contacted for comments on the brutal shooting of S. Singaravelu’s dog, Johnny, inside the compound of his son’s house in Tampin, Negri Sembilan, on Aug 24.<\/p>\nSingaravelu alleged the council staff were responsible for the death of his two-year-old pet.<\/p>\n
“We are only allowed to shoot dogs which are wild and are threatening the safety of our staff. We are not allowed to shoot such dogs inside the compound of people’s houses<\/strong><\/span>,” said Zulhilmi.<\/p>\nHe said the shooting orders were only carried out if the council received complaints from residents about dogs which are a nuisance.<\/p>\n
Zulhilmi, who was surprised to learn about the incident from The Paper That Cares<\/em>, said three bodies were involved in executing the dog-shooting orders in the Tampin district.<\/p>\n“These are the Tampin Municipal Council’s enforcement department, Tampin district veterinary department and Tampin district office,” he said, adding that he would liaise with the council’s enforcement department to investigate Singaravelu’s allegation.<\/p>\n
When contacted by The Malay Mail<\/em>, the council’s enforcement and safety division chief, Endy Dzulkarnaen Ariffin, also promised to investigate the matter.<\/p>\nMeanwhile, Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Wira Chor Chee Heung cited the Local Government Act when asked to comment on the issue.<\/p>\n
He said Section 9 of the Local Government Act stated any dog over the age of three months f<\/span><\/strong>ound at large or in a public area not wearing its current metal badge<\/strong><\/span> and any diseased ones not under treatment by a vet, may be destroyed by the authority.<\/p>\n“The person authorised by the local council can enter any land or premises other than dwelling houses<\/strong><\/span> for the purpose of securing, impounding or destroying the dog.”<\/p>\nChor said one of the Sections of the by-law also stated any dog, whether licensed or not, whose owner is not found,<\/strong><\/span> may be destroyed in a manner as directed by the council.<\/p>\nHe said further checks were needed before he could comment further on the issue.<\/p>\n
Charge the killers, say NGOs<\/h2>\n
PETALING JAYA:<\/strong> Charge those who “illegally” killed Johnny the dog in the house compound, say non-governmental organisations (NGOs) whose views were sought by The Malay Mail<\/em>.<\/p>\nSaid Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better (MDDB) administrative coordinator M. Mala: “The local councils are the worst animal abusers in the country and this has been proven again and again. What happened to Johnny is reflective of this.<\/p>\n
“If it’s true that the council officers shot Johnny on private property, then we urge Johnny’s owner to take legal action against those who shot his dog.”<\/p>\n
She said MDDB is also prepared to provide free legal assistance to Johnny’s owner in this matter.<\/p>\n
“This incident also raises the question of how much knowledge council employees have about canine behaviour and proper enforcement,” said Mala.<\/p>\n
“MDDB is upset with the abuse of animals by local council staff in the guise of enforcement. Dogs have a sense of hearing which is many times sharper than humans and when exposed to loud explosive sounds like firecrackers during festive seasons, they understandably would bark loudly<\/strong><\/span>.”<\/p>\nSociety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Selangor chairman Christine Chin, said the incident was a brutal act by brutal men.<\/p>\n
She said all local councils have adopted standard by-laws regarding dog ownership as outlined by The Local Government Act 1976 and Licensing of Dogs and Kennel Establishments By-Laws 2007.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny contravention of these by-laws penalises the owner with a fine and\/or prison sentence. Johnny was licensed and in a compound owned by the owner’s relative, so the 10 officers from the Tampin Municipal Council had no legal right to harm or take the dog away,” said Chin.<\/p>\n
“SPCA strongly urges the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) to charge the killers using the Animal Act 1953 for cruelty to animals and also urges the police to charge the killers for trespassing and destruction of property.”<\/p>\n
Said Paws Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) Petaling Jaya marketing and communications director, Dave Avran: “To shoot a licensed dog in a private compound, also without issuing a letter of warning to the dog’s owner or carrying out an appropriate behavioural assessment of the dog, amounts to high-handedness by the Tampin Municipal Council officers.”<\/p>\n
Avran said if there had been multiple complaints against the dog, the proper procedure would be to issue a letter of warning to the owner.<\/p>\n
“If the owner fails to comply, the dog should be sent to a registered shelter or animal welfare organisation,” he said.<\/p>\n
“PAWS is against brutal actions against animals and calls for an end to highhanded attitudes which seem to be occurring with alarming regularity in Malaysia whenever the welfare of animals is involved.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” ~Gandhi (1869-1948) <\/span><\/p>\n“I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man” ~M. Gandhi (1869-1948)<\/span><\/p>\n“The measure of a society can be how well its people treat its animals.” ~Mohandas Gandhi<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I was shocked to read this! What if a stray bullet accidentally struck some child in the house? The dog was purportedly making noise and causing nuisance and these guys just came over, shot the dog, and ran off with the body like thieves. They are also trespassing on private property, another crime. Guess what, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[117],"class_list":["post-6889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-borninmalaysia","tag-crime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6889"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6892,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6889\/revisions\/6892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}