13dogs shot right in the owner's very house.

I read with dismay the news article from thestar, 30th june 2006, "Owner of 25 dogs tries to save pets from death".

Reportedly, the owner (Seremban) who kept 25 dogs in his own house, "defied a six-month grace period given to him to move the animals to another area". Seremban Municipal Council received a court order on Dec 20 last year to cull all 25 canines in the house. With the court order, together with four dog shooters from the state Veterinary Services Department and two police officers, they entered the owner's house and shot 13 dogs dead. The owner had tried to save his dogs, and managed to pack 10 of them into his car, but was not able to save the other 13. -thestar

Now my questions are,
- Is this the best way to cope with this matter?
- Why shoot to death? Why not a humane way? Shooting is in no way humane. NO WAY. no excuses. Do you kill a man (or cat) just because the man (or cat) scratches/ bites you?
- Why not catch and cage them, allow the owner to claim them later (as DBKL does)? or other ways? There could be other means of negotiations, such as asking for the professional negotiators' help, or animal shelters. Turning to violence and shooting should never have been an option.

- WHY CULL?
- Since the Municipal Council claimed that there were mounting complaints abt the dogs - where are the complaint letters? Black and white.

It crushes my heart to realize that in this time where we call ourselves "civilized" people, in a developing nation which thrives to be the global hub for education and technology, such cruel, merciless, inhumane shootings still take place, in the victim's home, right in front of their father (the owner) and other family members (other dogs). To make things worse, they are actually substantiated by the court. And a global hub for education? Think again.

What happened to our "Masyarakat Penyayang" campaign? Shouldn't the leaders (the court, Seremban Municipal Council, police and NS Veterinary Services Department) walk the talk? Show some example in the first place? I believe when Malaysians launched this campaign, the word "penyayang" did not only refer to the Homo sapiens species. It covers all living creatures, and what more, the man's best friend - dogs/canines?

It is disheartening and a public disgrace to learn that despite all the spites and cruelty that we, human beings, inflict unto the canines - who are not able to speak for themselves - they remained faithful and loyal always, entertaining and giving comfort to their owners whenever needed.

They had assisted much in the police forces, customs, saving people in rescue forces, helping physically and mentally-disabled people, and many more levels of people in our multi-racial society. In short - mankind needs canines.

I believe that it is now time that these canines deserve some care and love back from the society, especially the authorities. Stop discriminations. It blinds us. It hinders all kinds of progress.

The canines had successfully maintained their status as "Man's Best Friends", generations after generations. And I believe - forever more.

Last but not least, an applause goes to Independent Pet Rescuers and Malaysian Animal Welfare Foundation for the relief they provided to the grieving, distressed, heart-broken, tearful 66-year-old owner.

My sympathy goes to him and his children.

The heart of a man speaks thru his treatment unto animals. So is the heart of a nation.

Eng said: "My house became a killing field. There was blood everywhere. I not only lost my dogs but I also had to spend hours cleaning the blood. This is so inhumane. Those dogs were like my children." ~nst, 1st july 2006.