Gripevine

LAST month the reputation of the Johor Baru Central Municipal Council (MPJBT) took a beating when a video surfaced on Facebook showing enforcement staff bludgeoning stray dogs to death. Under fire, MPJBT called a halt to ongoing operations to round up stray dogs and promised to come up with a more humane approach to tackle the issue of stray dogs. A little more than a month later, the council announced its solution - private dog catchers who will put the dogs down with lethal injection. The private dog catching company would charge the council RM100 per animal. All strays will be photographed and documented before the company makes a claim with the council Read about it here   http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/07/15/MPJBT-engages-private-company-to-put-down-stray-dogs/ The decision however did little to redeem MPJBT's reputation among animal lovers. Within minutes of the article being posted on Facebook, netizens reacted with outrage. Many expressed ...

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 le...

This monkey apparently went to the rescue of a puppy during a pipeline explosion in Nanjing, China. The image was posted on Twitter. However reports have surfaced that the photo above has been circulating on the net since 2006. True or not true, animals have been known to watch out for each other and even nurture a cub from another species. Recently a neighbour of ours moved out. The sad thing is that he left his two dogs behind. A pair of cross-breed German Shepherd dogs. For a couple of days they wandered about the neighbourhood, a woman who lives a few doors away and my mum would feed them. Three days after they were left to fend for themselves, people from the Veterinary Services Department came to take them away. We don't live in a dog friendly neighbourhood. The thing is, though the official story is that dogs who are taken away are put to sleep - via injection. The unofficial story is far different. Most of these dogs who are abandoned and the many strays usual...

Most kids would love to have pets, that is the general notion isn't it? But how many of these children can actually be trusted with domestic animals - cats, dogs, hamsters, birds, etc. I have heard of instances where children have caused trauma to animals by the innocent act of playing with them. For the children involved it was fun, but for the poor creatures in question, it resulted in being blinded in one eye for a dog, a bad limp for one poor cat, and being frightened to death for an unfortunate hamster who was just brought home from the pet shop. Hearing about cases like these where irresponsible  children were left to handle animals is one thing, having to witness it is another thing altogether, and this is where my story starts........... A few days ago, we had some visitors who came with kids in tow. Usually when people come visiting, Lexie our nine month old German Shepherd  is leashed to the fence, so there is no fear of her jumping on anyone. Lex...