By Anthony Thanasayan
We write to express our dismay and deep concern about the exploitation of disabled dogs in some local animal rescue groups’ fundraising programmes to elicit sympathy.
Injured and handicapped dogs need privacy and quiet to live out the remainder of their years with peace and dignity.
They should never be exploited by anyone, let alone by animal welfare groups for donations from the public by being paraded for display at fundraising events.
To use handicapped dogs in such a way is a most unethical practice which should not be tolerated anywhere in the world.
Doing such a thing will also make a mockery of human disabilities by trivialising the matter. This would be an affront to people with disabilities.
Without strict and constant supervision by a panel of professional veterinarians, disabled dogs will only be further neglected and abused, and will suffer undignified deaths whether in homes or animal shelters.
The Department of Veterinary Services should investigate NGOs that exploit disabled animals in this way, as well as those that use rescued animals for NGO fundraising
PETPOSITIVE does not support keeping disabled dogs alive unless a veterinarian okays it. But then again, the animals should be taken to the veterinarian often and regularly for follow-up treatment.
Another consideration is the current quality and status of veterinary care in Malaysia, which is still basic compared to overseas countries where disabled dogs have access to veterinarians who specialise in animal rehabilitation.
Disabled dogs require extra special care as their conditions will only deteriorate over time.
For instance, they need daily hydrotherapy (swimming) to prevent muscle atrophy, special medication to treat pressure sores to keep away deadly infections that normal dogs don’t face, and so on. The list is endless.
On another note, the role of euthanasia has often been downplayed and misunderstood, even by some animal welfare groups.
It appears to have been demonised rather than made known for its true purpose and value for the animal.
“Euthanasia” literally means a “good death”.
An animal is put down in mere seconds by a qualified veterinary doctor to take away its pain and end its suffering.
Euthanasia is administered not only to animals suffering from incurable cancer but for other reasons as well.
These include a wide range of other terminal diseases affecting organs such as the liver, kidneys and heart.
Dogs and cats are also put down in local councils when re-homing attempts have failed and there are no other viable options available.
Owners who are unable to look after their pets when they become old and disabled (the owner as well) are left with little choice but to part with their animals in the kindest way possible.
Re-homing doesn’t work when the pet is unable to settle down with a new owner. Some of them stay off food and die as a result.
The owners themselves who either become disabled through a stroke or go overseas can’t bear to wonder if the new owner will care for their pet as much as they did.
In such circumstances, the kindest alternative would be to resort to euthanasia.
So euthanasia is truly a godsend in such difficult circumstances, not just for terminally ill animals.
Anthony Thanasayan is president of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (PETPOSITIVE).
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.