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Treat animal cruelty on par with other serious offenses

  • Publication Date | October 1, 2018
  • Document Type | Letter to the Editor
  • Programmes | Forests & Biodiversity
  • Issues | Animal Welfare
  • Tags | Animal Cruelty, animal meat, Johor Baru, Selangor, Sibu
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Credit: Aleksandr Nadyojin

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) is shocked at the extreme cases of cruelties meted out to companion animals – dogs and cats. Statistics from the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) revealed dogs and cats topping the list in animal cruelty complaints. Complaints have been steadily rising over the past five years. In 2016 the department received 463 cruelty complaints, and in 2017 the number was 510 showing a 10% increase. 

However the number of animal cruelty cases reported in the media is just the tip of the iceberg as most cases are never reported. While animals suffered and some even died because of these abusers, not one of the culprits are imprisoned for more than six months. Many offenders escaped going behind bars because charges are dropped due to lack of follow up, or lack of evidence.

To say that we do not have laws in place would be wrong. In 2017, the previous federal government announced the new Animal Welfare Act 2015 (Act 772) where those found guilty can be fined a maximum of RM 100,000, or three years imprisonment, or both. How often is action actually taken and the perpetrators brought to court and charged?  SAM would like to recall a case where a man shot two arrows into Brianna the Rottweiler. He was not prosecuted because he claimed that he had shot the arrows into the dog claiming that he was “protecting his children,” and had not known the dog was sick and blind.

Why are cases of animal abuse so prevalent in Malaysia? The police and the DVS should take more interest in dealing with animal abuse cases, many of which are left to animal rights NGOs and animal shelters to handle.

Recently reports about three different animal cruelty cases have been reported. The first involved a dog being  dragged by a lorry along Seberang Jaya highway, and the second involved two men placing a pregnant cat into a laundromat’s dryer, thereby killing the cat. Their actions can be described as wickedly cruel, chillingly heartless, and utterly inhumane abuse.  There was an additional incident of a Penang teen escaping jail for kicking a kitten.  

Animal cruelty is causing cruelty to a sentient being. It is not someone being inadvertently cruel to an animal. It is a deliberate act on a living animal and therefore it is just as important as other crimes such as burglary. It is now time for the courts to deal with animal cruelty as a crime on par with other serious offences.

The courts may consider a crime against an animal as an animal welfare issue and not as serious as a human related crime. The clamour to make jail time fit the crime of animal cruelty has never been louder, with ever increasing demands for abusers to face punitive sentences that recognise the crime as a national scourge, and deter others from taking out their tempers, or getting sadistic kicks from harming innocent creatures. 

In addition to the increase in animal abuse, we must address the issue of stray dogs being killed for food. This has been going on as far back as 2015 when two baskets of skin and fur were found in an abandoned house at Merlin Lane, in Sibu. Increasing reports have surfaced of Vietnamese selling dog and cat meat in Johor Baru and in Selangor. Joining the bandwagon are Indonesians in Persiaran Elmina, Shah Alam, who brazenly continued eating the meat of a dog with the video focused on them. These Indonesians from nearby oil palm estate were celebrating a feast in which it was the norm to kill two to three dogs or cats for the purpose. In addition, reports of stray dogs with severed limbs, believed to have  been trapped, have been found around the area. 

Using the meat from dogs and cats of unknown disease status that are slaughtered and sold for meat, as well as using killing methods that are as unhygienic as they are cruel, poses a grave, and potentially fatal  risk to  communities and their animals from the deadly rabies virus. Additionally, young children witnessing the scene of cruel slaughter methods may soon become desensitized to the cruelty. 

While some may defend these practices of eating dogs and cats as a local “custom, ” SAM believes that customs should never ever be allowed to excuse or normalise animal abuse. The reality is that regardless of its origin, the live animal markets undermine national and public interest and safety, and promote the illegal sourcing of animals, posing a serious risk to human health and animal welfare. 

Sadly, there are no specific laws to punish people eating cats and dogs in Malaysia. SAM calls on the Ministry of Agriculture and the DVS to outlaw the consumption of dog and cat meat in Malaysia.

S M Mohamed Idris

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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