be kind to animals in response to a letter from a reader

[Guest guest]

Abuse of animals - The Star 26.3.03.

 

I was at the Malaysia International Pet Expo 2002 which was held from March

14 to 17 at the Mines Exhibition Centre in Seri Kembangan, Selangor. I was

disappointed and sad to see that most of the animals there were not well

taken care of.

 

Children and adults were allowed into the Petting Zoo without being given

any instructions or guidelines. Children were allowed to play with the

rabbits without being told how to handle them.

Some were seen carrying the rabbits by the ears. The rabbits were

mistreated. Instead of hopping around happily they looked stressed. Some

were even too scared to move, while others were nuzzling each other with

their heads down. They were scared the children would pick them up and

throw them down like toys.

 

There were animals which were kept in cages that were so narrow that they

could not even step forward or backward. To add to their misery, there were

visitors who kept poking them with their fingers. The four day exhibition

was held from 10am to 8pm. This is how long the animals had to suffer. Is

the pet expo a way to educate the public about animals? What disgusts me

most is the argument that animals were put on this earth for humans to use

as they please. This is nonsense. Every time you speak up for the animals,

it gives them another chance to live in peace. - Have Mercy - Kuala Lumpur.

 

 

In response to the above letter - The Star 16th. April 02.

 

Be kind to animals

 

WE REFER to your letter, Abuse of Animals (Speaking Up, March 26). Sahabat

Alam Malaysia agrees with the writer that a pet expo is certainly not the

way to educate the public about animals if they are treated as “living toys”

for the delight of children.

 

Talk of creating a caring society does not seem to extend to animals,

judging from the many instances of cruelty to animals or abandonment of

animals. People are not taught to have respect for animals or to be

responsible for them. Pregnant animals are sometimes abandoned because

owners do not want the problem of unwanted puppies or kittens.

If a mother is kept, the litter would be abandoned. People who take such

actions are not concerned with what might happen to the animals after

abandonment.

 

Young puppies are acquired and put on a leash straightaway. It is sad to see

a puppy wanting to play but unable to do so. Most chained dogs have little

or no shade at all. Kept under such conditions,it is not surprising if the

dogs become aggressive. When these dogs attack the owner or someone else,

all the blame is heaped on the poor animal.

 

Little attention is paid to the mistreatment of animals on farms, or of

those used for public entertainment or research. Animals and birds are

killed in slaughterhouses where frightened animals are dumb witnesses

to the killing and the mental agony of waiting for a similar fate can easily

be imagined.

 

The circus is itself a small world of horror. While most people laugh at and

applaud the tricks of the animals, how many would think of the long hours of

torture that these animals go through to perform that two-minute trick?

Captivity and an unnatural lifestyle give rise to neurotic behaviour. Animal

shows portray a distorted view of wildlife.

 

Animal experiments are nothing short of torture. Injected with vile germs,

addicted to large doses of morphine, made to endure violent electric

shocks, or driven insane by the application of monstrous

apparatus, animals suffer intolerable pain in the name of scientific

research until death mercifully claims them.

 

Captivity of wild animals for circuses, safari parks and even zoos provides

an environment of fear, boredom and anxiety. The animals are denied all that

is natural to them in terms of food, activity, socialisation and natural

behaviours.

 

Pacing, bar-biting, circling and self-mutilation are common among performing

animals and animals in captivity. Their spirits have been broken; they are

degraded, isolated, shackled, lonely and bored. Their

captive state provides no educational value.

 

An animal lover is not one who goes around looking after animals or

preventing cruelty. It starts with a feeling of respect for the natural

world around us. It is not about buying a bird and keeping it in a cage. It

is about letting it be the way it should be – free from

captivity.

 

How many of us have the courage to stop the cruelty and fight for these

poor creatures, knowing their plight and seeing them being ill-treated in

front of our very eyes? The one-week annually-designated Be Kind to Animals

Week is not doing any good to improve the situation.

 

The problem lies in a general ignorance as to what constitutes cruelty and

abuse. There is a lack of knowledge on the needs of animals and the

responsibilities of animal ownership.

 

The existing Animal Ordinance 1953 is long outdated and the Municipal

Council By-Law 1977 is more concerned with the control of animals than

with their protection. Several amendments are urgently needed to make the

regulations effective in fulfilling their objectives to alleviate the

suffering of animals.

 

Steps must also be taken to ensure that unwanted animals are destroyed by

local authorities wherever necessary either instantaneously or after being

rendered insensible to pain or suffering, and not in

the present manner where unwanted dogs are being caught and shot.

 

Laws on slaughtering of animals should be tightened so that unnecessary pain

or suffering, whether physical or mental, is eliminated before and during

slaughter. Apart from the attempt to eliminate cruelty by means of

education, a provision could well be inserted in the Act whereby public

exhibitions of animals should be prohibited if they involve the infliction

of pain or terror on the animal.

 

Public awareness is half the battle won. There can be no long-term solutions

until enough people take the necessary steps to end animal suffering.

 

Let us step forth with a clear vision: Be kind to animals.

 

 

 

 

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