Unspeakable cruelty at animal shelter

Urgent help is needed to save hundreds of cats and dogs from a shelter in Alor Setar.

PETALING JAYA: Investigators from Malaysian Friends of Animals (MFOTA), a welfare group supported by UK-based Nature Alert, have come across widespread cruelty in an unlicensed dog and cat shelter in Alor Setar, Malaysia.

The owner Pak Mie, allegedly keeps 500 dogs and 200 cats crammed into a home and outbuildings.

In an urgent statement to FMT, Jason Tan from MFOTA said, “The dreadful sights and smells confronting you on entering this shelter are overwhelming and practically had me wrenching and gasping for fresh air.

“Dogs and cats stuffed into cages, many with horrible sores and covered in fleas. Dogs can be seen fighting because they live in such a tiny space.”

Saying it was “hell on earth” for the shelter animals, Tan added, “Imagine the urine and faeces from 500-700 cats and dogs all in one tiny area, most of which ends up in the adjoining river.”

Tan also said the shelter was unlicensed and not considered a charity, giving rise to suspicions that donations were not accounted for in terms of collection or spending.

Citing the dreadful condition of the animals there, Tan said, “There is no resident vet and a great many of the animals are in urgent need of veterinary help.”

Sean Whyte from Nature Alert added, “Someone in government is not doing their job properly. Permitting this shelter to exist, unsupervised, unregulated, full of cruelty and suffering, is nothing short of a national disgrace and needs urgent attention.”

Whyte also asked, “Will the Department of Veterinary Services urgently help these poor animals or will the government vets continue to turn a blind eye?”

Both animal welfare organisations called for the government to promote a humane dog and cat control programme, as well as urgent mass sterilisation.

Both Tan and Whyte also stressed that with a supervised adoption programme, the number of strays on the streets could be kept under control.

Whyte said, “All of which must be done in a humane way to international standards. It is not difficult, but it is very urgent.”

Tan and Whyte have called on the Malaysian government to take urgent action to help these dogs and cats, adding that international expertise could be made available.

Whyte said, “The first thing to do is send a team (it will require at least six) of vets to the shelter immediately to treat the most serious cases of neglect and remove them to other locations where they can be nursed back to health before being put up for adoption.”

He added, “This is the very least that should be done and with the greatest of urgency.”