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.