Don’t condone animal abuse  
Malay Mail, 2 Mar 2007

Dear Editor, ONCE again an article in an English daily horrified me. 

A dog was found with a bicycle cable tied around its legs so tightly that it cut through the bone.

Last year, 13 dogs were brutally murdered.

Some months ago, a little black dog was beaten till its jaw had to be surgically removed.

Three months ago, I rescued a month-old puppy that was so badly abused that he’s still terrified of strangers.

Two weeks ago, I met a lady who had rescued an abandoned dog.

And these are only a small number of abuse cases that have come to light.

What is the matter with Malaysians? We seem to be capable of incredible cruelty and yet, we’re supposed to be a   nation   moving   towards   being   a

developed country with state-oftheart technological capabilities and massive skyscrapers.

Shouldn’t rapid national development mean higher intelligence? What is the point of being a developed nation when our people have the ability to inflict such cruel acts on helpless beings? The Government is aggressively promoting tourism but do we want tourists to confirm their preconceived notion that Malaysians are still barbarians by inflicting pain and misery on animals? Are these the sort of stories we want highlighted in our newspapers for the world to see? I don’t think tourists will be impressed with this sort of news, especially those from Europe or Western nations where animals are loved and considered part of the family.

I hope the culprits are caught though I understand that this would be next to impossible, especially since this poor dog can’t say who did the cruel deed to him.

I would like appeal to everyone to please treat your pets right and if you can’t, don’t have one.

And if you don’t like animals, leave them alone.

There is no reason to abuse or mistreat them.

And to animal lovers, please report cases of abuse, neglect and cruelty towards animals to the SPCA, local council or the media.

I also appeal to the Government to impose much harsher penalties to all those who are guilty of abusing animals.

Natasha Fernz
Kuala Lumpur