PAWS Gets Eviction Order

(The Sun) – An eviction notice has been served to the long standing animal shelter, PAWS Animal Welfare Society, by the Petaling Jaya District Land Office last month without disclosing the reason for the notice.

The 27 year old shelter that is a familiar NGO for animal lovers in Malaysia and home to about 400 dogs and 200 cats, has been ordered to be relocated in the 14 day eviction notice that was served on Nov 10 without indicating any development plans for the site at Jalan Lapangan Ara Damansara.

“We are not aware of any development plans for the place we are occupying right now. There is a development of a condominium coming up at the back of the shelter by Sime Darby, but it does not touch the site we are on,” PAWS Shelter Manager Edward Lim, 54, told theSun today.

He has been with PAWS for the past 11 years and said the eviction notice came as a rude shock.

Lim added that the shelter is not prepared to move and needed help to shift the 600 animals that is being housed there.

“We need the authorities to help us to identify a suitable site that we can move to and provide a shelter for the animals we have right now. We also need a more realistic timeline to relocate the animals,” he said.

The organisation was founded in 1987 by a small group of local and expatriate volunteers and depends on donations from corporations, the public’s generosity and the sale proceeds from occasional events held for animal lovers.

The land the shelter currently sits on was provided by Sime Darby Plantation Berhad and only when the notice was served the management realised the land now belongs to the government.

“It is disheartening that the authorities did not call PAWS for any discussion prior to this or even give us a reasonable timeline to work out our move. We had no knowledge of their plans,” said PAWS’s president Nicholas Au.

“We work with the local authorities and assist the public in controlling strays in the Klang Valley area, especially in Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya and Shah Alam,” he added.

Currently there are three veterinary surgeons and a number of full time staff at the shelter and is often frequented by those wanting to adopt a pet.

theSun was unable to get a response from the Petaling District Land Office on the matter.