An open letter to PM Najib on animal cruelty

The cruelty that was inflicted on Brianna, and old and partially blind Rottweiler, led animal lover Tina Yusman to start an  online petition called Justice For Brianna. The petition which garnered 126, 596 signatures from throughout the world was sent to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak on May 23, 2014 via email and also on Facebook.

Tina also drafted a memorandum to Najib highlighting other recent animal cruelty incidents in the country and urges him to do something about it. The memorandum was also emailed to the media.

I decided to highlight Tina's efforts here, in the hopes that it will inspire other animal lovers out there to lobby for change as well.

To all those out there who believe that animals deserve better, you are not one voiceless person who doesn't count. When you speak up, you speak for all of us, let us all be more vocal in future in gunning for change where animal welfare is concerned.

We are not a minority, we are a majority, and let Tina's memorandum not be the first and last that lands on the Prime Minister's desk.

This is what Tina had to say:

Open Letter to PM – Justice for Brianna

May 25, 2014 

FMT LETTER: From Tina Yusman, via e-mail

Whoever is kind to the creatures of God is kind to himself – Prophet Muhammad

I am writing to you today to request that your government do everything in your power to ensure animal rights in Malaysia are being protected. This is regarding the case of Brianna, the dog which was arrowed two weeks ago.

I seek that the perpetrator be charged with the harshest penalty, the law can accommodate. I am writing this letter, not on behalf of any NGO, Animal Activist, Animal support organisation or of any political affiliation, but just as a normal citizen.

In the eyes of people, I’am worthless. But despite my unworthiness, I am very distraught over our people’s lackadaisical attitude towards animal cruelty.

Animal cruelty is a grave form of violence that must be addressed.  It is also a form of violence that is well recognized in authoritative, academic research as a precursor to violence against humans.  We need a law that takes heinous crimes against animals seriously.

 We need a proper education system that addresses this issue from the grassroots.

I understand that the new Act has made animal cruelty a grave offence, but we need a system that is proactive. A law is only good to punish the perpetrators, but a changed mindset, understanding and compassion towards these creatures may be the solution to curb these cruel tendencies.

Many animal cruelty incidences have happened, which were made public:

• Hero - the two legged cat whose front legs were chopped off for stealing fish

• The Petknode case – where hundreds of cats were left to die at the so-called Cat Hotel. They were fined RM6K.. a peanut for their crime.

• The Municipal Council abuse of strays

• The pygmy elephants case

And not to mention those countless animals abuse cases that either fell on deaf ears or through indifferent eyes. Countless times I have tried to report cruelty cases at DVS website, but either it was not responded or the website system failed.

Yang Amat Berhormat Datuk Seri,

I am a person without status, wealth, or power but as a Malaysian who cares about animals, my heart hurts to see these goes unnoticed.

I forward you a petition which 59,000 (more or less) people (local and international) have signed online to seek Justice for Brianna, and all the other cruelty which our own community have and will inflict upon the animals and environment around us.

This is the URL for the petition site.  In addition to this, we also seek that the government look into:

1 Implementing a pet microchip to determine the dog ownership (if the owner was responsible, he would not have thrown away Brianna).

2 To make it a law that specific breed of dogs to attend training. (People are generally scared of Rottweilers, but they can be great pets).

3 To implement and strengthen a neuter/spay programme to ensure that animals population will not be hazard in a community. (it is a social hazard, admittedly).

4 To ensure all municipal council resort to a more humane way in catching strays.

5 To start animal kindness education from the grass root. The children are our future.

Thank you very much and I hope for your response. You are a cat owner yourself. You must feel something about this.

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by how its animals are treated -  Mahatma Ghandi

Wassalam

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2014/05/25/open-letter-to-pm-justice-for-brianna/