LATEST KLANG POUND PICS

This poor dog's eye infection appears to be getting worse.

Donated food which was sent to the pound by MDDB through a friend. A pail filled with water was also placed in each holding cell. Hopefully the workers do not 'spoil' the food when they are spraying water into the cages to clean them-up.

A sad looking dog begging to be taken out of the pound.

Some of the dogs here - whose ribs can be clearly seen - were too weak to even eat.

Eating and drinking finally.

Thirsty dogs

We were told by a source that the Klang pound people only started getting leftovers from restaurants and the bread factory after starving dogs had started to eat dogs that had died in their enclosures. We suspect the stronger ones had also killed the sick ones in their desperation for food. Our friend who went there to feed the dogs, the food we had received, told us that the dogs had finished half a pail of water as soon as it was put into their enclosures.

Please people - please take a dog home each. It won't solve the problem but would send across the message that people care enough to do this. It will in turn push the local council people to embark on a more humane approach.

MIXED FEELINGS

Yesterday we were both proud and ashamed of being Malaysian. Proud because a PAS branch chairman called asking to contribute food to the dogs at the pound. He said his heart bled to see the faces of the dogs in the pictures posted here.
He said he was a very religious man and given this, it was both his moral and religious obligation to do whatever little he can to elevate the suffering of these dogs at the pound. Since he didn't know much about dog food - he asked us if we could meet him at a designated pet shop and help him buy the food.
At the same time we also received a call from an Irish expat who wanted to buy food for the pound dogs as well. He said he was shocked with what he had heard and seen and said that had this happened in Ireland, the pound managers and workers would have all been sent to jail. According to him some pound workers in his hometown were sentenced to six months jail each for abusing the dogs in the care by not giving them enough food and water.
He also said cruelty against animals by individuals existed in all parts of the world including his country but cruelty against animals by a government body was inexcusable. He said he loved living in Malaysia but the many instances of dog abuse by local councils left a bad taste in his mouth.
Anyway, since both wanted to do the same thing - we got them together and they combined their resources to buy dog food as well as some chew toys. This, they said would relieve the dogs of the stress at the pound.
Since there were almost a hundred dogs at the pound - MDDB bought more chew toys to be sent there. MDDB also bought six large containers and pails to be filled with water and food and placed at the pound. We were told these were insufficient and therefore will be sending six more basins and pails to the pound. Stay tuned.

DUH!

Our meeting with an MPK top honcho regarding the Klang pound dogs not being fed was an incredibly mind boggling experience.
Nothing came out of it other than one of us being barred from the pound for having taken a television station crew there on Saturday.
Now coming back to the meeting, the top honcho was defensive and offensive from the very beginning. There was also a lot of shouting which could have been avoided. Top Honcho is the person in charge of the department responsible for dog cathching. His boss is the Top Top Honcho and the boss in charge of these councils is the Top Top Top Honcho.
Here’s an example of what transpired.

Top Honcho: SPCA and SAS and FMM (?) know what we do and they have told us that we are doing an excellent job in the way we catch dogs. The SPCA had gone on rounds with us and has commended the way we do things. So why are you here?

MDDB: I am here because we are have no confidence…………..

Top Honcho: You have no confidence in the SPCA! Put that in writing.

MDDB: No, we have no confidence in……………

Top Honcho: You have no confidence in the SPCA! Put that in writing.

MDDB: Can you please let me finish my sentence! I am here because we have no confidence in the way MPK is managing the dogs in the pound. They have not been properly fed. You have to ensure that the dogs are properly fed and given enough water when in your custody.

Top Honcho: What do you mean that we are not feeding the dogs? We feed them daily. We get food from the restaurants to feed them.

MDDB: But from what we see, they are not getting any food- Most of the dogs are skin and bones and many have become sick. Even if you get leftovers from the restaurant, these may be very little or even rotten.

Top Honcho: They get good food from the restaurant. They eat the same kind of food that I eat daily.

MDDB: You eat restaurant leftovers and rotten food?

Top Honcho: No, we have an agreement with some restaurants and we ask them to make several packs of food, with which we feed the dogs.

MDDB: When we went there on Saturday, the enclosures were not yet cleaned and……………………………..

Top Honcho: Now you are complaining that the cages were not cleaned? What are you really complaining about?

MDDB: No, that is not my complaint – when we went there on Saturday the enclosures were not yet cleaned and……………….

Top Honcho: You are complaining that we didn’t clean the place?????

MDDB: Can you let me finish my sentence…………. when we went there on Saturday the enclosures were not yet cleaned and if the dogs had indeed been fed, there would be traces of food on the floor. There wasn’t – besides their feces and a little urine there the floor was ‘clean’ – there were no traces of food. The bowls in the enclosures did not have any water in them as well.

Top Honcho: You are complaining so much – why don’t you all do something to help and educate the people of Klang?

MDDB: We will definitely help. We will try to send food to the pound as often as we can and we can also have our events in Klang but we need a centralised location to conduct them – somewhere we can also bring our dogs. Would you allow us to use your Dewan Hamzah if we asked for it?

Top Honcho: What kind of an NGO are you? Don’t you know that you have to write in to ask for permission?

MDDB: That’s what I meant by asking. Will you allow us to bring dogs to Dewan Hamzah?

Top Honcho: Looks puzzled - If you want to bring dogs we will give you other locations. You know, the SPCA warned us about independent rescuers – the SPCA said they all have personal agendas.

MDDB: Are you saying that we have a personal agenda? What kind of personal agenda can rescuers have saving stray dogs?

Top Honcho: I am not saying you have an agenda. But the SPCA said the rescuers would take the beautiful dogs out, clean them-up and sell them for a profit.

MDDB: Well, MDDB makes it a point to mostly save dogs that are deemed hopeless and helpless. We whisk out a phone and show Top Honcho a picture of a mangy dog rescued from the pound. This is the type of dogs we usually get. Me make them whole again and find them homes.

Top Honcho: Where is the dog now?

MDDB: In a clinic.

Top Honcho: What are you going to do with it?

MDDB: Put it up for adoption or send it to a sanctuary or farm.

Top Honcho: you cannot keep it in your house.

MDDB: ???????


More to come……

Continuation.........

MDDB: I hope the dogs can be separated at the holding center - pets from strays so that there won't be a spread of disease

Top Honcho: We don't catch pets........we only catch strays

MDDB: But we saw a lot of dogs with collars

Top Honcho: We don't catch dogs with collars, we only catch dogs which have no owners

MDDB: There are dogs with collars there and people have been coming to 'bail out' their pets.

Top Honcho: (looking momentarily confused) We don't catch dogs with licences - there's a difference between collars and licences.

MDDB: ???????????

Top Honcho: I will go and check on your complaint that the dogs are not being fed.

MDDB: I hope you will not victimise your pound workers because they can only feed the dogs if you make food available.

Top Honcho: No, I will only speak to their supervisor telling him to feed the dogs more.


Meanwhile, our informant who has been staking out the pound tells us that leftover food is only available a few days once and this is more often than not leftovers from patrons' plates which is very little in quantity. The workers also go to a nearby bread factory to get discarded and rotten bread and this is also available once in a few days. Later in the evening we met the Top Top Top Honcho at a Christmas party and told him about what had happened. Top Top Top Honcho said that these are people who have never known dogs up close and personal and regarded them as rodents just like rats and roaches. He said it will take a long time to educate them but measures such as a proposed spay clinic in the locality will help towards curbing their bloodthirsty desire to exterminate every dog in their path.

Who feeds the dogs?

We had our little gathering at the pound but almost all of us were very late because we couldn’t find our way to the place. Anyway, the sight that greeted us was heart-wrenching and all of us left the place feeling desolate and frustrated because we couldn’t do much for the poor dogs. They were lying in the own feces and urine with nothing to drink and eat.

Some were breathing heavily, indicating that they were suffering from lung infection or pneumonia whilst some others appeared to be too weak to even move. There were also dogs which had open wounds.
We brought three large bags of dog biscuits and fed the starving dogs as soon as we got there. We also had a television crew with us because we wanted MPK to realize that not feeding the dogs at the pound was morally wrong. Soon after the television crew had finished the job, I called the MPK health director, who was not contactable, the whole of last week. Surprisingly, he picked-up the phone after the second ring this time around.

He was furious and said the local council by-laws did not have provisions to feed the dogs. “We are not a shelter but a holding center,’’ he said. In short, he was telling us that MPK was not obligated to feed the dogs. That MPK did not care if these poor animals starved to death. However, he has forgotten that the Department of Veterinary Services’ guidelines strictly stipulate that dogs have to be given food and water and ensured a clean environment pending euthanasia.

Given that the Veterinary Services Department is a federal body and the local councils are the lowest rung of the administrative system – the local councils have to adhere to what has been stipulated by the DVS in regard to the catching and management of strays.
We will be meeting this person on Monday and hopefully he gets the picture. Meanwhile, one of the dogs that were not in the enclosure followed us out of the compound and we brought her back.

The dogs were 'calling out to us' and some tried to desperately wriggle out of the enclosure. One young dog stood on the sill all the time we were there. It broke our hearts to see them like that.

We couldn’t remove any of the other dogs because we had to make arrangements with the MPK to pay the compound. Anyway, the dogs we brought back tested negative for parvo, corona and distemper but tested positive for the pregnancy test. So, she is currently at a foster home until we find her a permanent home.

Besides this dog, we also have with us 20 puppies and 2 dogs that was give to us by MyAnimalCare. Several have been sent to foster homes and two distemper/parvo puppies had to be dispatched to Gemas, which is located at the Negri Sembilan-Johor border, where a family had volunteered to take care of them.

We hope that some of you reading this can atleast take one of the pound dogs under your care. Let us know and we will make the necessary arrangements.

PUP

This poor puppy was skin and bones when MyAnimalCare brought her to us from the Klang pound. She must have had very little to eat and must have been drinking contaminated water, that is why her urine was bloody. She was also infected with parvo and distemper. Given her condition, the poor pup only lasted several days and our only consolation is that she was well taken care off for a day or two by her fosterer Mandy before the inevitable happened.

Peaceful Protest

Given the gravity of the dog catching rampage in Klang - MDDB is calling for a peaceful gathering of animal lovers and sympathisers at Klang Municipal Council Dog Pound this Saturday between 12.00pm to 1.00pm. We have no other choice other than doing this to show the council that they should immediately stop what they are doing to prevent the unnecessary suffering of these animals as well the possible outbreak of distemper, parvo and corona outbreak in Klang. Please join us - you can bring banners and placards as well as canddles to remember the dogs whih had suffered and died at the pound. The dogs are kept at Pusat Kurungan Haiwan, Kawasan Perindustrian Bandar Sultan Sulaiman, Northport. Call us at 019-3576477, 012-3739007 or write to us to find out more.

Pound Puppies and Dog

Cindy, on the road to recovery after her wound had been cleaned out.

The little pup's urine with was thick with blood - probably urinary tract infection. Thank go our friend Mandy is fostering it.

The little puppy who is skin and bones. She has distemper and corona.

The pound puppy looking for food.

The little Gremlins huddled-up at the clinic after being tested.

Another frightened little pup that was infested with ticks.

Waiting at the vets after rescue - this puppy had probably been starving for days.

Waiting at the vets

At the vets

Positive for distemper and corona

At the vets - this pup tested negative but did not have any appetite today

Distemper and Corona

This pup tested negative but is coughing and has blood in her feces

We are desperate. We have placed six sick puppies with fosterers and need more people to take in the rest until they are well. they four that tested negative yesterday seem to have other problems - one has a prolapsed anus, another is coughing and a third seems to have lost its apetite.

We also have six puppies which are so traumatised that they have become little monsters of sorts. Its starting all over for us and we are going to be horribly strapped for cash as treating these pups can be very expensive.

We are thankful that a friend and fellow rescuer has taken in the mother dog and four pups for us temporarily. We also have Cindy with the facial wounds to care for in addition to the distemper, parvo and corona cases.

To make matters worse - we have our healthy puppies at the half way home that are pending adoption. We do not want to compromise on their well-being and need to get them adopted as soon as possible. Please help. Our apologies for the pics being all mixed-up - but the captions will explain. The puppies had rafia string tied around their necks to identify the infections - blue for parvo, green for distemper and yellow for corona.

You'll note that some of the puppies have nore than one coloured string and this means that they have multiple infections.

The Klang Pound fiasco

Pix courtesey of MyAnimalCare - a dog which dropped dead at the pound.

Pix courtesey of MyAnimalCare - Another dead dog.

Pix courtesey of MyAnimalCare - Cindy, had wanted to be rescued but they couldn't take her a there were no vets to treat her facial wounds daily at where they were taking her to. She is now with us. The vet told us that her wounds were due to probably acid being splashed on her.

Pix courtesey of MyAnimalCare - Scene at the pound

Pix courtesey of MyAnimalCare - Scene at the pound

Pix courtesey of MyAnimalCare - Scene at the pound

Scene at the pound

Scene at the pound Scene at the pound

Scene at the pound

Scene at the pound

Scene at the pound

The Klang Municipal Council is at it again soon after the Pulau Ketam fiasco. This time around they have sent their dog catchers on a rampage to catch dogs several times a day including at night.

The dog catchers are paid an allowance of RM 10 for every dog caught in addition to their monthly salaries as MPK employees. As a result many many pet dogs have been detained and taken to the MPK pound in Bandar Sultan Sulaiman.

Now, in order for such massive dog catching operations to be carried out, the pound must have the proper infrastructure such as an isolation bay, quarantine area as well as separate holding areas for pets and strays.

When dogs are stressed, deadly infections such as distemper, parvo and corona sets in. These infections are deadly and very very contagious.

Picture this:
An pet owner comes to the pound to ‘bail out’ his dog which had been placed in the cage with many other dogs, some of them infected with these deadly viruses. Of course, the pet dog has a 90 percent chance of infection.

The owner takes the dog back and he has other dogs at home. All of them will also be infected and the infection will also quickly spread to pets owned by anyone who visits the home as well as other dogs in the vicinity. What results next is a pandemic of massive proportions.

Those managing and running the operations at the MPK haven’t the faintest idea what these viruses are but yet go on cramming the pound with countless dogs daily. When queried they say they are acting because of numerous complaints by Klang residents.

But Klang residents also complain about potholes, overgrown bushes, clogged drains and restaurants located in houses, as well as many other things – but nothing has ever been done about these things.
I know – I am after all a Klang resident.
To make matters worse – there is no budget in their dog catching antics for food and so the dogs are being starved. Some appear to have died of starvation. Several NGOs including us have dispatched dog biscuits but how long can we do this?

Don’t they know that they have to make provisions for food when embarking on such a big blood-thirsty enterprise?
Anyway, another NGO My Animal Care has rescued almost 36 dogs from the pound and sent them off to a sanctuary. They have also given us 21 puppies and 2 dogs. Eight of the 21 puppies tested positive for distemper, corona and parvo viruses. This has proven our fears that the clueless MPK folks are cross contaminating dogs indiscriminately.

There are now being cared for by us and our fosterers. We are desperately hoping that the rest are safe. The second batch of puppies brought in by MyAnimalCare were so traumatized that they were ferocious and behaved like gremlins.

They will need a lot of time before they feel safe being around people. They bit the vet as well as her assistant who were testing them for the viruses. Can’t the Pakatan Rakyat do something? Are they so bloody weak that they have no control over the local councils? Or is that because they don’t give a rat’s posterior about these dogs which are deemed defiling?

Whatever it is Selangor is supposed to be a developed state – what’s the point of being a developed state when the local councils are still so very neanderthal ? And ideal situation would be for the local council to have educational programmes in tandem with the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) to educate the people of Klang on pet care and the importance to neuter. They should also emabrk on the TrapNeuterAndRelease/Manage (TNR/TNM) programme to battle the stray problems. If it can work in Indonesia, India and nepal so well - it should work very very well in a developed state like Selangor.

Have a look at the pics.

HELP!

We received this frantic email and are wondering if anyone would like to volunteer to come with us to perhaps remove the dog? We have a location map. Anyone interested ---- please e-mail malaysiandogsdeservebetter@gmail.com or call 0193576477.

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Hi,

I hope you can do something for this pityful dog. I've tried to seek help from SPCA twice, but unfortunately - the dog is still being chained there day/night, rain or shine.....

----- Forwarded Message ----
Sent: Wed, November 18, 2009 4:14:18 AMSubject: Dog being chained in the rain in Kepong area..... Please help!!!

Hi,

As discussed, this is the dog being chained in the rain days/nights. I first discovered him/her when I was in this area for an appt at night , and he was chained in the dark in a pouring rain..... That was almost one week ago. I have not forgotten him; I went back again this afternoon, hoping not to see him/her there, but unfortunately, he is still there being chained in the rain!!! Please talk to the owner and educate them the proper way to treat a dog, this is very cruel. Please try to do something soon because it's been raining for days..... poor dog will be shivering and get sick easily in this cold and wet weather. I do not know the exact address there but it's near SRJK (Chinese) Kepong . It's an open space with bushes and trees next to a shop selling metal material etc. Here is the map for your reference. Hope you can rescue this dog from this sad situation. Thanks and God bless.

Mary