FWD: Pet shop owner breaks law by displaying tiger cubs

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This article is from The Star Online

URL:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/3/22/nation/10478229 & sec=nation

 

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Tuesday March 22, 2005

Pet shop owner breaks law by displaying tiger cubs

BY HILARY CHIEW AND TEOH TEIK HOONG

 

PETALING JAYA: The displaying of tiger cubs by a mega pet shop here was

technically illegal, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan)

said yesterday.

 

Its enforcement director Misliah Mohamed Bashir said although the cubs were

crossbred, it was still an offence to keep animals from the totally protected

species under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.

 

“The shop operator was under the impression that since the cubs were

off-springs of Siberian and Bengal tigers and not the local Malayan tiger, it

was all right to display them.

 

“We explained to him that the protection accorded by the law for tiger was at

species level, meaning it covered all the subspecies as well as any mixed

breeds,” she added.

 

Misliah said the dealer did not have a permit to keep or display the cubs at

the shop, adding that this was also a violation of the law.

 

 

 

The department, however, did not seize the animals but told the shop owner to

stop.

 

The cubs called Shah and Meem were said to be four months old and weighed 9.4kg

and 8.6kg respectively.

 

The issue came to light following a public complaint to the department.

 

A check at the shop's showroom yesterday found that the cubs have been removed.

 

WWF-Malaysia executive director Datuk Dr Mikaail Kavanagh Abdullah said he was

appalled to find tigers in a pet shop.

 

“Under a global convention, tigers are totally banned from all commercial

trade. They should not be bought or sold as pets.

 

“It is a terrible comedown for an animal as noble as a tiger to land up in a

pet shop,” he said.

 

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