AFTER two cases of rabies were reported on Sept 14 and 15 in Penang, the state government went all out to cull the 25,000 or so stray dogs on the island.
Official sources revealed that three days later – on the Sept 18 – 182 stray dogs had been killed – humanely as claimed by the authorities.
Regardless, the wanton slaughter of stray dogs has raised the hackles of animal lovers who pointed out that the method used was ruthless, and were demanding a better solution to control the spread of rabies infections.
But Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng countered that it was imperative to get rid of the stray dogs for the sake of public safety. He likened rabid dogs to ‘zombies,’ claiming they ‘bite what they see,’ and to protect the public, the state government had to take extensive preventive measures.
However many animal protection organisations have disputed this argument and voiced their outrage, urging Lim to consider rabies vaccination — that is instead of killing the stray dogs, capture and vaccinate them.
While some regard dogs as man’s best friends, others believe dogs are just like any other animals. If we could accept the slaughtering of chickens and ducks, why not dogs?
Of course, what we should be focusing on is not only how to deal with rabies infection properly but also how to effectively eradicate it.
According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), founded in 1924 and now has 180 countries as members, to effectively eradicate rabies, the following three steps are essential:
• Vaccinate the dogs in the affected areas.
• Human vaccinations.
• Treat bitten or wounded victims by injecting them with anti-rabies serum.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also explained vaccination can eliminate rabies, at the same time effectively preventing the transmission of infection to humans.
But is killing dogs really a humane act? Many are asking this in the wake of the all out war against stray dogs in Penang.
The OIE has recommended mass vaccination as the most effective way to eradicate rabies, noting that as long as 70 per cent of the dogs in the epidemic area are vaccinated, rabies can be removed, and the numberof cases reduced to almost zero.
This is because when a vaccinated dog is attacked by an infected dog, the vaccinated dog will be immune while the infected dog, being unvaccinated, will eventually succumb. With this, rabies will gradually disappear.
In other words, after capturing and vaccinating the stray dogs, then releasing them, a ‘preventive wall’ against rabies will have been erected to safeguard public health.
So this again begs the question — is ‘hunting’ and killing’ dogs really humane?
There have been complaints about the heartless and unfeeling method used by the City Council to capture and get rid of stray dogs.
Chairman of Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Selangor Christine Chin has claimed the tools used are not proper.
“The iron pipe is too sharp and when the rope is tightened around the dog’s neck, the iron pipe will hurt the dog.”
She said when the dogs struggled in pain, the dog-catchers would tighten the rope even more.
A Dog Ransom
During an interview with RTM in 2009, Chin said a veterinarian licence was needed to perform euthanasia.
Previously, the dog was lifted up and injected directly in the heart, causing the dog great pain. This is down right cruel. So we have to wonder whether or not the dog-catchers, hired by the city council, are properly trained. Moreover, many irresponsible companies have also taken the opportunity to blackmail helpless dog owners.
I always take special care to ensure my dog is not only vaccinated annually but its licence also renewed at the same time.
Once, my dog, wearing its tag around the neck, slipped out of the house and the council’s dog-catchers happened to be around the area.
When I was just about to call my dog home, one of the dog-catchers jumped out of the van and chased my dog down.
I shouted out desperately that the dog was mine and it was wearing a tag but I was completely ignored.
The dog-catcher cornered my dog into an alley and yanked it up by the neck with a rope attached to the end of a metal rod.
While my dog was yelping in great pain, another dog- catcher took out a net to secure the canine before harshly plummetting it into his van.
A stray dog was standing nearby at the time but the dog-catchers seemed uninterested in it. Later, I learned why.
According to the dog catchers, if I wanted my dog back, I had to go to the municipal council to get it. Without hesitation, I made a trip to the council but soon found myself paying a fine.
Apparently, even if a dog has a licence and wears a tag, it is still not allowed to leave the house compound.
After paying my fine, and since my dog was nowhere to be found at the council premises, I went down to the pound to look for it. And while there, I found myself paying ‘ransom’ for my dog.
At the pound, the dogs are placed in two different areas — for dogs with and without tags respectively. The tag-less mutts are doomed while those with tags will be kept for sometime for their owners to rescue them.
After running around for a day, I finally brought my dog home but its body and face were covered with scars and it was not able to calm down out of sheer fright from the ordeal.
This experience only makes me worry, if not fear, even more that the ‘immediate order’ to eliminate all stray dogs in Penang will actually follow the ‘Hunt and Destroy Guide’ set by the Malaysian Department of Veterinary Services for the National Council.
If your hand hurts, will you cut it off? If your foot hurts, will you chop it off? Evidently, this is not the proper method.
Why not invest in rabies vaccines instead of euthanasia injectable drugs? Vaccinate not only domestic dogs but also stray dogs and let the anti-bodies naturally build a ‘preventive wall’ to effectively root out the viral disease of rabies.