Wednesday November 17, 2010

Ipoh bans shooting of strays

IPOH: The Ipoh City Council has banned the shooting of stray animals with immediate effect.

Council secretary Datuk Abdul Rahim Md Ariff conveyed this decision to a group of animal activists who met him yesterday to hand over a memorandum calling for the ban.

This followed the shooting of Spunk, a 10-year-old dog who was left unattended by its owner here on Oct 29.

Fighting for animal rights: Anthony handing over the memorandum on behalf of the other NGOs to Abdul Rahim during a meeting Tuesday. With them are Dr Ranjit (right) and ISPCA adviser Dr Goh Hue Lang (third from right).

The killing of the therapy dog drew flak from animal lovers and NGOs.

T. Anthony Siva Balan, president of the animal-friendly group Petpositive, said the council had agreed to stop shooting strays and instead use other methods to deal with them.

He said the council would send its officers to Petaling Jaya next week to learn dog-catching methods used by the city council there.

Anthony, a PJ city councillor, said Ipoh was also studying ways to set up an animal pound to keep animals caught in the streets.

He added the Ipoh council would also work with NGOs in dealing with strays.

“A committee set up by the council will discuss methods such as neutering and spaying the animals,” said Anthony, adding that the Ipoh mayor or his representative would visit the 75-year-old owner of Spunk to apologise for the shooting.

Noah’s Ark Ipoh founder and treasurer Dr Ranjit Kaur Mendhir said she was delighted that things had worked out well after the meeting with the council secretary.