International Homeless Animals’ Day: Justice for the Voiceless | BY PAVITHRA RAMAN
International Homeless Animals’ Day was first introduced in 1992 by the International Society for Animal Rights with the noble purpose of demanding the end for the suffering of all homeless animals. The day was introduced to provide a voice for these often-forgotten beings, which includes spreading awareness about the pet population and the inhumane treatment of homeless animals, also known as animal abuse. This day falls on the third Saturday of August every year, which will be on the 15th of August this year. It is meant to save the lives of millions of homeless animals that we encounter every day. It has, to a certain extent, succeeded in doing as the day is being celebrated in over 50 countries and on 6 continents, saving millions of animals’ lives.
Cruelty to animals in Malaysia is a concern, which most Malaysians are either unaware of or in refusal to take responsibility for, with attacks on stray animals, especially dogs, becoming part of daily life. As much as we want to ignore the frequent occurrence of animal cruelty, it should be mentioned that animal abuse is real and pervasive. It happens to all different types of animals and in every corner of the world. It was reported that every 60 seconds, an animal gets abused. According to a research conducted by the Department of Veterinary Services in 2019, it was revealed that there had been a 30% jump in animal abuse cases across the country from 510 in 2017 to 662 cases in 2018. It was further reported that 90% of these cases involved dogs, followed by cats.
Credits to Tsang Ching Nam
In order to get a personal perception of this growing issue in our nation, I interviewed Ms. Puspa Rani, an animal activist who has devoted her life to the animal shelter that she runs to refuge rescued homeless dogs. She loves dogs but not the condition that they were brought into her shelter. “No matter how bad the situation gets or how poorly the dog has been treated, you shouldn’t let your emotions take over as it could waste time and let the poor animal die. Therefore, your top priority should be rescuing them and crying later.” She urged potential activists and volunteers to handle such pressure by ignoring their feelings.
Photo from R.AGE.
Puspa stated that watching too many dogs getting abused and killed persistently has pushed her to establish the Malaysian Independent Animals’ Rescue as she could not sit idly by and watch those guiltless animals suffer. According to Puspa, this jump in animal cruelty cases is mostly due to the lack of education. She stated that the government should play a large part in educating the public about the laws of raising and treating animals. “The public should learn about animal cruelty, no matter how gruesome it sounds so it could prevent half of the gruesome things that I face on a weekly basis.”
We hear stories of countless homeless dogs and cats left to fend for themselves on the streets. These abandoned animals often suffer and die after being attacked by other animals, getting hit by a car, succumbing to extreme temperatures, contracting fatal diseases, or starvation. Many homeless animals are either shot, tortured, poisoned, set on fire, or killed in other brutal ways. The root of this problem is that they aren’t many of us voicing out and fighting for animal rights. We hear and read these ghastly stories of animals getting abused and murdered right before our eyes and still turn the other cheek. If every Malaysian stood up to the barbaric treatment of these innocent animals and demanded justice, we would see far fewer cases of cruelty towards animals.
Credits to Tsang Ching Nam
When asked about how she feels about this issue as a progressive activist in Malaysia, Puspa answered, “People tend to have this stigmatized perception towards strays, especially dogs where they think that they are dangerous and menacing, but in reality, strays dogs are very fragile and loveable like domestic dogs although they might appear shy and off-putting at first.” She continued, “This is why proper education regarding this issue is more than necessary.” Hence, each of us should help work towards a day when every animal can have a loving, permanent home by treating homeless animals with compassion and kindness. As Puspa Rani said, “It’s not nice being homeless, be it an animal or a human.” Therefore, let’s try not to make it harder for those ill-fated animals, but let’s work towards changing their fate instead.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” This is an accurate statement that perfectly describes how poorly stray animals are being treated in our country. As animal activists like Puspa are working hard to save and shelter stray animals, we should at least try our best to make people aware of the misdeeds taking place in our community and urge our local government to do their part to improve the lives of homeless animals. For everyone’s safety, it’s vital for law-enforcement officials and communities to treat cases of cruelty to animals seriously and ensure that animal abusers are appropriately prosecuted and sentenced. Stray animals are part of society and, therefore, should be protected by the government in order to mitigate cruelty toward them.
Therefore, let us educate ourselves about the significance of this day and the proper treatment of homeless animals today. Any small amount of contribution to animal shelters could go a long way to help the defenseless homeless animals in this nation. The following are resources that you could refer to in order to educate yourselves about this meaningful day. Contact information for animal shelters, responsible authorities, and how you could get involved in this noble work are also included below.
● An American site that has information and advises on “How to help a stray pet” - https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/how-help-stray-pet
● A Malaysian site that reveals the necessary steps that should be taken to help a stray animal - https://says.com/my/lifestyle/how-to-properly-rescue-a-stray-dog-from-the-streets
● The Facebook page for Malaysia Independent Animal Rescue (MIAR ) owned by Puspa Rani - https://www.facebook.com/Malaysia-Independent-Animal-Rescue-132282193542235/
● The Facebook Page for Second Chance Animal Shelter - https://www.facebook.com/scasmalaysia/
● A site to file a report if you encounter an animal in distress in Selangor - https://www.spca.org.my/contact-us/report-an-animal-in-distress/
● A site with a list of Animal Adoption Centres in KL & Selangor Area 2020 - https://pledgecare.org/animal-shelters-rescue-organizations-kl-selangor-dog-cat/
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