Giving a thought to the animals -Anthony Thanasayan
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- Created on Thursday, 09 October 2014 10:04
- Published Date
- Written by -Anthony Thanasayan
- Category: Columnist
PEOPLE AROUND THE GLOBE celebrated World Animal Day last Saturday.
The first such occasion dates back all the way to 1931 in the beautiful city of Florence in Italy.
A convention of ecologists was held
there then. They began to see an important and urgent need to highlight
the plight of animals around the world.
They wanted to make as many people as
possible become aware of the dangers animals faced in their struggle to
survive and what was needed to bring about a positive change for them.
Their focus at that time was primarily on endangered species.
Today, World Animal Day has grown by
leaps and bounds to reflect on ALL ANIMALS that we share our world with,
and how vital it is to bring about a respectful relationship with them
so that we can successfully co-exist with each other.
October 4 went on to become the special day for World Animal Day which is observed annually.
Some of the best memories which I have
of this joyous occasion are the ones during the time I served as a
councillor for the Petaling Jaya City Council or MBPJ.
I recall setting up a special committee
of which I was the chairperson. It was within a couple of months after I
joined MBPJ in 2008.
Although it was meant to deal with all
animal issues in the city (except those of monkeys, which are covered by
wildlife), we decided to call it the 'Canine Advisory Team meeting' or
'CAT', for short.
We loved the play of words in our unique
name. It always seemed to have a particularly calming effect on those
who had fears of or extreme views on dogs in our programmes.
Dogs ended up as our main focus because, let's admit it, they are the "biggest problem" for the councils.
I never realised this until I joined the
meetings at the health department and came across all the complaints
made by residents against canines, especially stray dogs.
I soon became aware of how tough it was to sit in the health department's director's chair and to have to sort out each problem.
These ranged from stray dogs "cleaning
out" the dustbins in residential areas (and creating a mess as a result)
to chasing and attacking joggers, women, the elderly and even children
in the streets.
What shocked me even more were the
pathetic excuses that some animal lovers and NGOs gave, at official
meetings, for the dog attacks on children and the elderly.
They automatically blamed the victims for provoking the animals when no such thing happened.
I mean, do they even realise the kind of
impression they are creating for themselves among the public and
municipalities for their insensitive remarks?
The truth of the matter is that stray
animals are made up of all kinds. There are dogs that ignore people and
those that find others a threat, especially when they are marking their
territory.
Of course, local councils are not without their faults as well.
One thing I've learnt over the years is
that if there is one thing that local councils severely lack in their
stray management programmes, it is public and personal education.
This was one of CAT's chief objectives.
Whilst we acknowledged the importance of
stray population control for the good of humans and the animals
concerned, councils need to go about it in a humane and kind way.
There is no place whatsoever for animal cruelty in the councils.
To bring this about, we managed to
invite the rest of the 11 councils in Selangor to our MBPJ meetings.
(Kuala Lumpur's City Hall's dog unit was also a regular in CAT.)
Our usual two-hour meetings often went into three hours per session.
Each council would take turns to share
their problems in their respective municipalities and we would then try
to come up with the best solution together.
The Klang Municipality (MPK) took a
giant step forward by setting up its own CAT committee to deal
specifically with its own problems.
From a local council which previously
didn't have a budget for dog food for its canines on death row, MPK CAT
pushed hard for one and got it.
Apparently, the previous argument by
some councillors for not having a budget for food for canines in the dog
pound was that there was no reason to bother about this since the dogs
would be euthanised anyway!
Before the budget, MPK got eating
outlets and restaurants in the vicinity to donate their leftovers for
the day to feed the hungry animals.
Like MBPJ, MPK also had several awareness forums for World Animal Day to educate pet owners to be responsible for their pets.
MBPJ took a step further to give awards for model dog and cat owners in the city.
Walking their dogs at all times on a
leash, promptly picking up their pets' poo after them and disposing of
it properly, were some of the prerequisites for becoming a recipient of
the special animal responsibility award.
Without a doubt, the way forward for
local councils entrusted with the heavy responsibility of running an
effective stray management programme - and for animal NGOs with a
mission to promote animal welfare in society - is for the two to come
together in a meaningful and committed way to work together in creating a
better world for animals everywhere.
Happy World Animal Day everybody!
The aNt.
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