The height of animal cruelty

The dog rescuers of Pulau Selat Kering and Pulau Tengah are returning with gruesome stories of starving dogs turning on each other and indifferent Pulau Ketam islanders.

Stories by SHOBA MANO, The Star

In late April, animal activist Sabrina Yeap read a Chinese newspaper report where independent animal rescuers complained of dogs being abandoned on uninhabited islands off Pulau Ketam, near Port Klang.

Shocked, Yeap shared her concerns with fellow activist and blogger, Terence Victor Smith, better known as TV Smith. He immediately went on an expedition to investigate the matter.

What Smith reported shocked the world — Pulau Ketam villagers were rounding up stray dogs by the hundreds and shipping them off to die a slow and painful death on uninhabited islands, Pulau Selat Kering and Pulau Tengah, where food is scarce.

Struggling to survive in the mangrove swamps, the larger dogs cannibalised the weaker, smaller ones.

Others held on for dear life on twigs, branches and mangroves which were also home to venomous snakes.

Smith spoke with the Sg Lima village headman who was about to embark on his own “deportation” mission, and convinced him to take him (Smith) along to the island dumps.

“I was shocked to see scrawny dogs loitering on the fringes of what wasn’t much of an island. The ground was just tree branches and twigs over seawater.

“The dogs were trying to sit and stand on the mangrove roots and branches. The soil there was like quicksand, and their weight just pulled the animals in,” said Smith.

Local fishermen told Smith that since there was no food or drinking water on the islands, the desperate dogs swam to nearby kelongs (fish farm made up of wooden platforms and sheds out in the sea) to save themselves.

However, they were thrown back into the sea.

The fishermen said some drowned and others, having no other choice, returned to the islands.

Armed with a haunting photo of a wet puppy trying to balance itself on fallen branches, Smith rode the boat home, determined to expose the problem.

“When I called Sabrina, she immediately asked me to commit to taking 20 dogs from Sg Lima, to stop the headman there from dumping the dogs.

“It worked. The Sg Lima headman postponed his mission,” said Smith, who turned the haunting photo of the wet puppy into a poster which he uploaded on his blog site.

It resulted in a global outcry. Donations poured in from Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, the UK and the US, which allowed Yeap and Smith to immediately embark on a rescue mission.

They set up the Rescue Mission Secretariat run by volunteers who are all independent animal rescuers. Now, they also help reply to hundreds of e-mails which arrive each day from around the world. An update has been posted on Smith’s blog site, http://www.mycen.com.my/rescue/updates02.html.

The first rescue took place on May 2. They retrieved a black-and-white terrier whom rescuers named Hope. The next day, rescuers managed to save the “poster puppy” and named her Cleo.

Yeap now has her hands full with 21 rescued dogs at her animal sanctuary, Furry Friends Farm (FFF) in Kundang, Selangor.

She said it broke her heart to think of all the money going into rescue missions, when it could have been more effectively spent on spaying and neutering campaigns instead.

FFF’s rescue mission soon hit the headlines of Malaysia’s mainstream newspapers.

Then, The Star made another shocking revelation: Pulau Ketam residents had trapped and dumped the dogs on the island since early March, with allocations allegedly provided by Klang Municipal councillor (MPK), Tee Beng Lee.

“The MPK should have initiated proper spaying campaigns and enacted regulations to stop pet dumping and illegal breeders from flourishing,” said Yeap.

Pamela Lim Cheng Yoke, a diving instructor and FFF volunteer and director of rescue operations, said, “I’ve camped overnight at the rescue site and heard the wails of anguish from a multitude of dogs drifting out from the island. It is a desperate cry so urgent that I am frustrated I cannot move faster to save them.”

Smith said fishermen told them that the snakes in the swamps were so venomous that an adult could die within 20 minutes of being bitten! And the nearest hospital is an hour away.

“Once, I fell into quicksand and had to be pulled out by the rescue party. Any dog who encountered the same would not have been so lucky,” he added.

On May 19, an insurance agent from Prudential Assurance Malaysia, who had heard of the dangers faced by the rescue team, persuaded his company to provide free personal accident insurance coverage for them.

Hulu Selangor district councillor Karin Lee was among the rescuers. Rolling up her sleeves, she worked with the volunteers to build feeding stations for the abandoned animals. She even dove into the sea to save a dog.

“I understand the rescue team’s frustration. I am now convinced that Ronnie Liu (chairman of the Selangor State Exco for Local Government) is right in his goal of creating a ‘Humane Selangor’.

“This is why I am organising a spaying and neutering campaign at a residential area in Kuala Kubu Baru this June. I’m hoping this will be a pilot project that can be replicated in other districts and eventually throughout the country,” she said.

“On one of my trips to Pulau Ketam, I noticed a dog tied up in the compound of a house. I asked the lady beside it why it was necessary to tie the dog in its own compound. She said it’s fierce and must be kept secure,” said Smith.

“Then I asked if she could at least put it on a longer leash, at which point she asked what I was doing there. I said I was part of the team rescuing the dogs on Pulau Selat Kering.

“She then said ‘Oh, I hear the dogs are eating each other there’, and burst into laughter. It made my blood go cold,” said Smith, who believes this attitude proves that the lack of animal welfare education in Malaysia and an apathetic federal government is the root of the problem.

FFF is appealing to the public to come forward and adopt the rescued dogs.

“They have been through a great ordeal and we will only consider those who are sincere and committed to giving them loving homes,” said Yeap.

• For updates on the rescue mission and to learn how to help the Furry Friends Farm to rescue, recuperate and re-home Pulau Ketam’s abandoned dogs, visit: http://www.mycen.com.my/rescue/updates02.html, write to [email protected] or call Sabrina Yeap at 016-631 9018.