ANIMAL PROTECTION SOCIETY PENANG

It has came to our knowledge today that Penang State Exco YB Chow Kon Yeow has forwarded a letter to The Star requesting for a public apology for the publication of an article entitled, “Strays allegedly caught and shot in full view of children” dated May 25, 2011 - (http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=%2F2011%2F5%2F25%2Fnorth%2F8739429&sec=North). He is apparently accusing the report of tarnishing the image of our local councils and publishing misleading photos on the report. And if, in the case that The Star did not make an apology within the next 2 days, immediate action will be taken.

We are startled to learn that YB Chow Kon Yeow would go to such extend to conceal and mend the image of the local councils which has long gone under the drain in the eyes of the public. The photos, though not current, were taken during a Penang Municipal Council dog catching and killing escapade about two years ago. It is also clearly stated in the article that the pictures are file pictures. Is the YB Chow claiming that dogs are no longer shot on the streets as depicted by the photos? And by the way, are we not encouraged to practice transparency in our country, as suggested by our CM Lim Guan Eng? Do we even have the Freedom of Speech? Or is our YB Chow really so naive that he thinks that by having the journalist publishing a public apology; it will help to clear their names and silent us all? Worst still YB Chow was a former journalist before becoming a politician and his present stance of muzzling the media is indeed shocking. Bear in mind that the root cause of such major explosion from the public was because majority of the people here have witnessed with our own eyes how brutally and barbaric the local councils are when it comes to culling of dogs. It’s a shame that while everybody is aware of this cruelty, our YB Chow is still trying to shield those barbarians! You have truly disappointed us, YB Chow as we have all the while thought you are a great person with a passion for animals. Guess we are so wrong about you!

Rather than going after a journalist who is just trying to reveal nothing but the truth, we would suggest to the YB to work efficiently and put more effort into improving our state and proving to the citizens that indeed our state/country is a loving society who practice Animals Right. As quoted by Mahatma Gandhi, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”. We want our next generations to be raised in a country that respects and apply moral values like: responsibility, compassion, non-violence, tolerance of all forms of life! The world could no longer tolerate extreme animal cruelty!

Despite this entire unimaginable ordeal, our streets are still filled with strays. This has proven that the current proposition to deal with strays’ problem is not working and it will never be. Here, we are now in the year 2011, but yet it’s as if we are going backwards to the Dark Ages and kill all strays. We can no longer be called humans if we allow these terrible actions to take place. We can’t raise our children as blood thirsty murderers who learn that it’s okay to kill innocent animals.

We believe all Independent Rescue Groups are willing to work together with the local councils to cope with the over population of strays in the most humane way, which is through TNRM (Trap, Neuter, Release/Rehome, Manage) and create a stray-free society. However, we never would understand why the government had never made the initiative to accept our proposition. In fact, MDDB & MCCP Northern has emailed a draft copy of the proposal to YB Chow Kon Yeow and requested to be granted an appointment to meet up for further discussions on the welfare of animals but we have heard nothing from YB Chow thus far. Is it because our topic is of no political interest to him? Whatever the reason, we shall not give up until our voices are heard! 

Please write to YB Chow at chowkonyeow@penang.gov.my telling him what you think of his move of bullying reporters and the media in order to hide the ugly truth. Tell him that his move also contradicts what the Penang government, under CM Lim Guan Eng, is projecting itself as. Please also cc copies of your mail to YB Chow to: