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.