United For Justice

IN the JOHOR STREETS

FIFTEEN individuals and four non-governmental organisations lodged reports at Skudai police station yesterday against the Johor Baru Central Municipal Council (MPJBT) over its treatment of stray dogs here.

Malaysia Independent Animal Rescue (MIAR), Johor Baru Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Companion Animal Rescue Effort Society (Cares) and Petpositive were the four NGOs that lodged the police reports.

Among the individuals who lodged the report was G. Suhanthan, 28, who had on June 9 made the first police report after witnessing the incident of MPJBT officers bludgeoning seven strays to death with an iron rod.

Suhanthan had recorded the horrific event on video and uploaded it onto Facebook.

He claimed that so far no investigating officer had contacted him even though the video clip went viral on the Internet.

MIAR founder and president Puspa Rani, who was also at the police station, said MIAR has received numerous emails from animal lovers nationwide.

"As far as I know, about 30 police reports have been lodged over the video from animal lovers throughout the country.

"Which is why I am here today," she said after lodging the report at the Skudai police station.

Puspa also said it is a criminal offence under Section 428 and 429 of the Penal Code which states that an offence is committed if "a person commits mischief by killing, poisoning, maiming, or rendering useless any animal of the value of five ringgit or upwards". The offence is punishable with an imprisonment of two years, or fine, or both.

"No dog catchers can kill a stray in any manner without a certified veterinarian.

"Even if the dog is put to sleep by lethal injection, only a veterinarian knows the lethal dosage," she said.

Puspa said that if she failed to get a satisfactory response from the council or relevant agency, she will be bringing the matter up to the complaints bureau in the Prime Minister's Department.

Puspa further said representatives from the Department of Veterinary Service (DVS), who were also at the police station, had told her that the MPJBT did not have a veterinarian.

"So how were the strays put to sleep in Johor over the years?" asked Puspa.

The DVS representatives, however, declined to comment on the matter. A call to the DVS office to get the comment of the department's director also proved fruitless.

MPJBT also could not be reached for comment.

MPJBT corporate and public relations department administrative officer Salwa Abd Rashid was quoted as saying that the council did not shoot nor clobber strays to death.

On Monday, MPJBT when contacted, had said that they would investigate the matter.

MEANWHILE, in the STAR

Ops to catch stray dogs put on hold

BY DESIREE TRESA GASPER AND KATHLEEN ANN KILI

   

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JOHOR BARU: The operation to catch stray dogs will be put on hold amidst continuing public outcry over cruelty in the putting down of the animals.

A decision would be made at the next full council meeting on whether action would be taken against officers involved, said Johor Baru Central Municipal Council (MPJBT) president Sallehuddin Hassan.

The MPJBT came under fire after a video clip showing enforcement staff bludgeoning stray dogs at the back of a warehouse in Jalan Makmur, Skudai, went viral recently.

“People should understand that these are not stray cats but aggressive dogs. The public also found the dogs a nuisance in their neighbourhoods. The dogs were not killed in a public space.

“The council has the right to put such stray dogs to sleep. However, I do not deny the way it was done was indeed regrettable,” said Sallehuddin.

He added that he did not know how the dogs were killed until the video surfaced on June 5.

It is believed that the MPJBT department in charge of stray dogs had found it hard to obtain supplies for injections – which is usually used to put down stray dogs.

Checks by The Star at the warehouse, where the brutal culling took place, showed no signs that it was still being conducted.

However, dogs could be heard barking within the premises while enforcement officers were seen entering the warehouse area.

Various non-governmental organisations and at least 10 people have lodged police reports over the incident.

“It is unacceptable that no firm action has been taken against the officials,” said Malaysian Independent Animal Rescue (MIAR) president T. Puspa Rani, who is also the representative of the group, during a press conference at the Johor Baru Central police headquarters here.

She added charges could be made under Sections 428 and 429 of the Penal Code for mischief against animals.