Dept rescues injured dog
By CHOW HOW BAN
Metro, 15 July 2003

AFTER weeks of inspections, the Veterinary Services Depart-ment finally rescued a Rottweiler, which sustained an injury to its right hind paw, from a house in Jalan SS26/16, Petaling Jaya. 

A team of six officers from its enforcement division, along with two officials from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), raided the house recently. 

Two officials climbed over the house gate to take the dog out as no one was at home during that time. 

The dog was then sent by SPCA officials to Shah Alam for a medical check-up while the division lodged a police report to explain its invasion into the premises. 

 

The German Shepherd surrounded by filth in the backyard of a house in Setapak.

“We had to take the dog away because of its injury and take it for a medical check-up,” said an enforcement officer. 

Together with the Rottweiler was a Retriever which was tied to a tree but only the former was taken away. 

Meanwhile, on July 9, the team led by its division head Hamzah Umar did not take any action after inspecting the condition of the dogs and another German Shepherd in Lorong Mata Air 1, Setapak. 

When contacted recently, Hamzah had said they found no evidence of cruelty to the dogs. 

He had said the dogs were fine and that the only problem was that the German Shepherd was placed at the backyard and there was no proper shelter for it. 

The enforcement officers only issued a warning notice to the occupant, asking the latter to improve the dog's living conditions and at the same time asked the occupant to shift the dog back into the compound of the house. 

SPCA animal inspector Sabrina Yeap said the cases were brought to the society's attention by the public and that they had conducted their own investigations before referring the cases to the department. 

“Someone e-mailed SPCA on July 4, saying that the owner of the German Shepherd tied the dog under the hot sun and did not feed it everyday. 

“So we visited the place on July 5 and saw a big German Shepherd tied up with a metal chain in the backyard without any shelter from the rain or sun. The area was also dirty and smelly,'' she said. 

Yeap said although the dog was still in a fairly good condition, she stressed that the environment it was living in could lead it to contract diseases. 

“From SPCA's viewpoint, if the animal is exposed to direct sunlight and rain and chained up for 24 hours, it is considered cruelty,” she said, adding that it was common sense that the animal had to be taken out immediately. 

The case of the Rottweiler and Retriever was reported to SPCA in early April by a neighbour who claimed that the dogs were not fed regularly. 

SPCA then paid a visit to the house to check on the claims.  

Yeap said both dogs looked thin, especially the Rottweiler.  

“You can actually see its rib bones sticking out,'' she said, adding that its hind paw was infested with maggots. 

The pet owner would be charged under part 4 of the Animal Ordinance 1953, which states that any person in charge of any animal in confinement and neglects to supply such animal with sufficient food or water shall be guilty of an offence or cruelty and liable to a fine of RM200 and imprisonment for six months, or both.  

Only the Veterinary Services Department has the authority to take the animals away and file charges against the person in charge of such animals.