IPOH, Oct 27 — The next time you plan to rescue an injured animal, ask yourself if you are willing to follow through all the necessary steps.
Ipoh Society for the Prevention of Cruelty Against Animals (ISPCA) president Ricky Soong said people would often snap a picture of the animal in need of rescue and post it on social media appealing for help.
He said animal welfare NGOs are only backed by volunteers.
“Sometimes, we receive calls from people who tell us about animals that need help. They expect us to drop everything and come running.
“NGOs are manned by volunteers who have other responsibilities and are unable to immediately rescue distress animals.
“When we cannot rescue an animal, verbal abuse will be hurled at us instead,” he said.
Soong suggested that when one sees an animal in need of help, they could move the animal out of harm’s way.
“For example, if they see an animal that has been knocked down by a vehicle, they can move the animal to the side of the road to prevent it from getting run over.
“If they can send the injured animal to the nearest veterinary clinic, that will be better.
“But most of the time, instead of doing that, the person takes pictures of the animal and posts it on social media asking for help.
“By the time someone actually answers that call for help, the animal may have died,” he said, stressing that a rescuer must be prepared to see the animal through the treatment rather than expecting NGOs to do the job.
The same goes for adoption of strays, said Soong.
Many times, NGOs received calls to take in strays.
“But who will pay to board the animals at shelters?
“There are operational cost at shelters such as food and medical cost while looking for permanent homes for the animals.
“Being a public funded NGO, every sen spent has to be accounted for,” he said, citing ISPCA as an example where it has chalked up some RM17,000 in medical fee for 40 animals.
Instead, the NGO is advocating for the Trap Neuter Release Manage (TNRM) programme to reduce the number of strays.
Soong also urged rescuers and feeders to neuter the animals under their care.
ISPCA, he added, would be embarking on its fourth TNRM programme next month.
The programme is for 500 dogs.
“Rather than seeing animals under your care being caught and dumped at the Papan landfill, it will be better to neuter or spay them,” he said, adding that the Ipoh City Council would not catch dogs that has undergone TNRM.
To determine if a dog has undergone the programme, Soong said it would have a red collar with a dog licence.
“There will also be a microchip in each dog that has its feeder’s details.”
