The reward is being given as part of animal rescuer Sharul Nizam Abdul Rahman’s effort to ensure that those responsible will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
In a Facebook posting made last Saturday, Nizam said animal lovers had a responsibility to help catch the “devil” who shot the dog.
“The perpetrator has gone beyond the limits in his abuse of firearms. The devil cannot go free. We have a responsibility to put the devil back in the bottle. We must fight them hard!” he said in the posting accompanied by images of the dead dog.
When asked why he felt the reward was necessary, Nizam told FMT that although Malaysia’s legislation against animal cruelty was “beautifully constructed”, enforcement was still lacking.
“My friend, who is an animal activist in Australia, agrees that the legislation in Malaysia is beautiful but based on my audit, the facilities and the people in charge of enforcing those laws are still not competent enough.”
He added that sometimes even after the police had caught those who were guilty of animal abuse, the officers were unsure on which law to apply when charging the accused.
“We have the Animal Act 1953, but this Act excludes Sabah and Sarawak. They have their own enactment. But whenever I am able to, I advise them to use Section 429 of the Penal Code as it can be used everywhere.”
On whether or not he had received any information since he offered the reward, Nizam said that no one has come forth with anything on the shooter so far.
“Most people who have contacted me are asking for information regarding the dog, not giving information regarding the shooter. But that’s fine because animal lives are valuable.”
He said he found it strange how most Malaysians respect cats, but had little if any respect for dogs.
“This is not because of religion, it is because of society. I’ve been to Muslim countries like Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey, which are more developed than Malaysia, and they really respect dogs.”
He, however, pointed out that public awareness regarding the value of dogs was steadily growing in the country, but the important thing was to keep the momentum going.