I was driving to the animal shelter farm that I manage in Kundang when I saw a dog with his jaw dangling and tongue hanging out sitting at the entrance of the Ki-Park Sri Utara construction site, which is about 10 km from the Batu Caves roundabout, heading towards Sungai Buloh and Kepong.
I stopped my car to check on the dog. As I approached the dog, two eye-witnesses told me they saw Indonesian workers repeatedly calling the dog 'haram' as they cruelly attacked it. These eye-witnesses pleaded with me to help the dog.
I took the dog, subsequently named Joy, to the veterinary clinic. Joy's lower jaw was so badly crushed it had to be removed. Her tongue was covered in sand and had lacerations and blood clots all over it.
My friend, Shoba Mano of the Remembering Sheena Campaign wrote to Kok Pick Tong, one of the four managing directors of Kepong Industrial Park (KIP) Group which employs the workers that ill-treated Joy. I clearly stated we were are not interested in the KIP Group identifying and punishing Joy's attackers. That is for the department of veterinary services to do as the law gives them the authority to prosecute animal abusers.
We instead were seeking the developer's permission to educate the workers on the ethical treatment of all animals because we don't want this incident repeated. We also requested that KIP Group pay for Joy's medical expenses and for his food and maintenance at the Furry Friends Farm to show that corporations in Malaysia are not just money-making machines that don't care whom and what they devour in order to make their profits.
I did not receive any response to my letter or phone calls.
Recently. I and other animal lovers gathered at a restaurant at Batu Caves to protest the beating of Joy. Dr Habeeb Rahman Ibramsa of the International Islamic University in Gombak, Selangor, was also present at the restaurant. He denounced this beating as un-Islamic .
Sherrina Krishnan of the Independent Pet Rescuers was also present. The Independent Pet Rescuers is a group of individual good Samaritans who pick strays off the streets and re-home them through our adoption programmes. We see a great need for education in Malaysia on issues concerning animal welfare.
People are not taught that pets are for life and should not be dumped when they tire of them. They don't understand the need for spaying. They don't understand how much animals enrich our lives because they treat their pets so poorly.
Haji Abdul Rahim Abdul Kapur, a company director present at the gathering, agreed with me that there was a dire need for education on animal welfare. He said we needed the government to support effective education programmes run by animal welfare groups. The Malaysian society cannot do it alone.
Shoba has written to the Housing and Local Government parliamentary secretary Dr S Subramaniam, who had invited at least 30 NGOs and interested parties for a meeting at the ministry in February this year to discuss the issue of dogs and strays. To date, we haven't seen anything being done to improve the lives of dogs or any other animal.
Joy can now only eat soft food for the rest of her life as she has lost her lower jaw and teeth. What happened to Joy should never happen again. Anyone who would like to learn how to help Joy or the Furry Friends Farm may contact the Remembering Sheena Campaign at [email protected].
The writer is managing partner of Furry Friends Farm in Kundang, Selangor.
