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Misery to animals brought on by the zodiac animal signs

  • Publication Date | March 2, 2020
  • Document Type | Letter to the Editor
  • Programmes | Forests & Biodiversity
  • Issues | Animal Welfare, Wildlife
  • Tags | Animals, Exotic Pets, Zodiac
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© Amelia Collins

With each Chinese New Year welcoming a particular  animal in the zodiac, each bringing with them their  own good fortune and strengths, pet shops and petting farms  go all out to import  the animals  associated with  the  zodiac animal signs of that year. 

In this year of the rat, a petting zoo farm is drawing in the crowd with its import of foreign breeds in the rodent family such as the capybara, porcupine, degu,  dormouse, chinchilla and Sphinx rat, to name a few, as exhibits. 

The popularization of exotic pets has a major influence on exotic species demand.  This is a deadly start to buying an animal on impulse in the belief that it will bring luck, or when it is young and cute.   Once the novelty or fetish dies off, or when the animal becomes too troublesome or outgrown its cuteness it will be neglected or abandoned.

When pet stores sell exotic animals, they help fuel the public’s desire for unique pets. It is  that need for the newest and trendiest pet that leads consumers to the Internet, where sellers are waiting to make quick cash off illegally obtained exotic animals that cannot  be found in pet stores. The more rarer the animal, the more money the seller can get. As long as there’s a demand, the cycle will continue.

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) has frequently criticized the trade in and keeping of exotic pets for the commonly inhumane and harmful practices that are associated with supply and keeping, including animal welfare, species conservation, invasiveness, and public health and safety. 

Pet shops are quick to  promote exotic species as ‘easy to keep’  and many have no knowledge about the care needed for a particular species often providing wrong or false information to the buyers. Placing profit over providing proper care for animals, it’s a prime example of how the pet trade treats animals as a mere commodity.

What the public does not know is the effect of the exotic pet trade where rampant poaching for the exotic animals is devastating animal populations worldwide. Many animals and reptiles suffer during capture and transport and should they end up at their final destination alive, they are often distressed – unable to eat, move and behave as they would in the wild. They also suffer at the hands of dealers who sell to pet stores and zoos. For individuals possessing exotic animals life in captivity  is a death sentence for these countless “exotic” animals who suffer from malnutrition, improper care and  environment, loneliness, and the stress of confinement. Robbed of their natural habitat, denied the space to roam, they’re forced to pace in endless repetitive circles around the same empty cubic inches.

When abandoned pets may starve or fall victim to the elements or predators. Those that survive may overpopulate and wreak havoc on the ecosystem, killing native species. Most non-traditional pets pose a risk to the health of young children. The acquisition and ownership of exotic pets should be discouraged by all means.

Buyers are unaware that countless animals are taken from the wild — often in violation of the law — for use in breeding operations, sold locally, smuggled out of a country or intentionally mislabelled as captive-bred and exported legally. The death rate in the trafficking of wild animals, particularly reptiles, is horrendous and the plundering of wild populations for pets has decimated some species, especially tortoises.

Demand for unique creatures has exploded in recent years with the popularity of e-commerce and social media websites to advertise the sale of live animals. Currently there are no governmental regulations to control the influx of exotic animals into the country.

SAM is strongly opposed to the keeping of exotic wildlife as pets.   We call for a  ban on the sale of exotic animals in pet shops as well as banning the on-line advertisement of exotic animals. 

Until then the public must realize that animals belong in their natural habitats and not in the hands of individuals as  as pets.  The best is never to keep exotics as pets –  ‘No Wild Animals choose to be made a pet!’

Meenakshi Raman

President

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Testimonials

Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah satu badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang telah sekian lama berjuang mempertahan kelestarian alam. Ia juga mendidik masyarakat tentang pentingnya kebersamaan dalam pemikiran dan tindakan agar alam ini dapat kita wariskan kepada generasi hadapan dalam keadaan yang elok dan terpelihara. Dalam pada itu juga SAM giat membantu golongan nelayan pantai dalam memperjuangkan hak-hak mereka sehinggalah tertubuhnya Persatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING). Nelayan pantai sepenuh masa ini dididik oleh SAM sehingga mereka mampu memainkan peranan sebagai pemimpin nelayan yang meneruskan kesinambungan memperjuangkan hak-hak nelayan pantai lainnya. Sebagai contoh SAM telah berjaya menyedarkan masyarakat nelayan keperluan menjaga hutan paya bakau untuk kebaikan hasil tangkapan nelayan itu sendiri.
Jamaluddin Mohamad Bualik
Jamaluddin Mohamad BualikPersatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Jaringan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING)
During the 1980s, I used to read about the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) in the news. After retirement, some time in 2001, while lazing around, I read news about the construction of a carbon in leach plant using sodium cyanide to extract gold in Bukit Koman. My friends and I visited CAP and we were introduced to SAM and her legal team. We discussed the details of filing a case against the gold mining company and the department of environment with Ms Meenakshi Raman and her legal team. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between lawyers from SAM and many of us from Bukit Koman. We had many ups and downs in our struggle to shut down the gold mine that was causing a nuisance in our village. But, as a community we never gave up because SAM had our backs.
Hue Fui How
Hue Fui HowSecretary, Bukit Koman Ban Cyanide in Goldmining Action Committee (BCAC)
Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah sebuah NGO yang memperjuangkan nasib masyarakat luar bandar khasnya. SAM menerima aduan-aduan masyarakat dan menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi. SAM telah mewujudkan ramai aktivis-aktivis sosial dan alam sekitar. Pada era 1980 dan 90an SAM sangat dihormati oleh masyarakat dan agensi kerajaan. Apabila media sosial menguasai maklumat maka SAM pun terkesan dan masalah masyarakat terus disalurkan dengan pelbagai cara. SAM perlu mewujudkan aktivis-aktivis pelapis yang muda untuk terus membantu masyarakat. SAM juga perlu membuat perubahan supaya banyak turun kelapangan dan jangan mengharapkan laporan media sahaja. Tingkatkan prestasi sebagaimana pada zaman kegemilangan SAM di era 80-90an.
Che Ani Mt Zain
Che Ani Mt Zain
SAM taught me the importance of social activism and the role it plays in upholding the rights of people and the protection of the environment. In my experience, SAM has never hesitated to speak up in defence of people and their environment, and has gone the extra mile to champion their rights, by helping communities take their battles to the higher ups and even to the courts.
Jessica Binwani
Jessica BinwaniPublic/Private Interest Lawyer
Semenjak kami kenal SAM, banyak pengalaman dan pengetahuan yg kami dapat. Kami telah belajar cara membuat baja asli daripada SAM. Semenjak itu, bermulalah minat kami dalam aktiviti pertanian. Dengan memperolehi kemahiran dalam membuat baja asli dan penanaman lestari, kami juga telah dapat menambahkan pendapatan sampingan kami. Ini lebih baik daripada tanah kami terbiar dan tidak diusahakan. Terima kasih SAM kerana sudi memberi bantuan dan tunjuk ajar kepada Persatuan kami.
Chedo Anak Nyuwen
Chedo Anak NyuwenPersatuan Penduduk Sg Buri, Bakong, Marudi
My journey with SAM started when her community organisers took me to the meet the paddy farmers of Kedah, connecting my growing interest in environmental law with our people who struggle to work the land in the face of pollution, replacement of traditional seeds with commercial hybrids and their accompanying chemical package of fertilisers and weedicides. I then had the honour to work with SAM in the struggle for the rights of the native communities of Sarawak, in defence of their forests from massive logging and destructive mega-projects. In every issue that SAM takes up, she combines rigorous research with the realities and voices of the communities to advocate for policies and laws that care for people and nature. From the courts to the elected legislators to policy makers and implementers and to the United Nations, SAM walks side by side with the communities in Malaysia. How can I not be inspired by the vision and passion of the generations of women and men who coalesce to form SAM?
Chee Yoke Ling
Chee Yoke Lingstudent of SAM, Executive Director of Third World Network, SAM’s sister organisation

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Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Headquarters)
No. 1, Jalan Joki, 11400 Penang,
Malaysia
Tel: +604 827 6930
Fax: +604 827 6932

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Marudi Office)
129A, First Floor,
Jalan Tuanku Taha,
P.O.Box 216,
98058 Marudi, Baram, Sarawak,
Malaysia
Tel & Fax: +6085 758 973

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