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Old 03-20-2009, 12:13 AM
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blackie007 blackie007 is offline
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Default Re: Letter from an Animal Shelter Manager - the sad truth

ruth, i'm not offended, not to worry. we are just sharing opinions and discussions, it's nothing personal, right? unless u want to make it personal.

i am pretty ambivalent about spca and am not blind to their faults. but it doesn't help to bash them up like this, because their funds will decline.

when that happens, what spca is going to do, and pretty good at, is to KILL EVEN MORE animals in there.

let's say, hypothetically, they kill 10 animals a day. now, when funds decline, they're going to up the ante and might even kill 100 animals a day. is the number far-fetched? we'll never know until funds decline. and it is for this reason, i keep saying it doesn't solve the problem by continuously bashing spca.

instead, if anyone feels so strongly about spca's apathy, then he/she should do something concrete to turn things around. i believe in if there's a will there's a way.

becos i really don't see what all this bashing will lead to other than spca becoming more unpopular and the animals in the shelter suffering as a result of this.

again, let me repeat, i am not promoting spca. my ONLY CONCERN is what would happen to the existing animals in spca's care if the public shuns them and their funds decline.

let's imagine for a second that spca ceases to exist:-

1) what will happen to the existing animals? how many can be fostered by the rescuers? they are already asking for help for those dogs that they rescued from the dbkl dog pound.

2) where will the irresponsible owners take their pets to when they no longer want them? i think it's safe to say they'll just throw them out onto the streets.

for me, i think it'll be a lot worse if spca fails to exist, much as i abhor their kill policy. in case you're not aware, i've always taken the stand that all animals have a right to live alongside us, even on the streets. i am vehemently against the notion that they should be killed for whatever reason, unless they are in agonising pain and there is no cure in sight.

as for the lady who's selling her bungalow in titiwangsa to support the strays, she is actually helping spca in a way. she fosters the animals from spca to stop them from being killed due to space constraints. and she wants to do even more. this is why she wanted to sell her bungalow, and she is happy and willing to do that. she is a great lady that we can all emulate.

and there are about 10 dogs that she passed on to one of my hubby's cousin to keep in her house. spca gave my hubby's cousin a letter to say that those dogs are spca's and she's fostering them on their behalf until homes could be found for them. this letter comes in useful during raids by MPPJ, which has happened before as the dogs are noisy and the neighbours have lodged complaints with the MPPJ.

every month, spca gave my hubby's cousin dog food to feed the dogs, and they built an "igloo" in her garden for the dogs to play with, with their funds because my hubby's cousin is like me, a housewife without income.

Quote:
Originally Posted by t.ruth View Post
hi blackie007

i'm a very versatile person...'bashing' spca and rescuing animals both i can do without compromising on quality.

may i correct you, don't mean to sound arrogant, but i'm not anti-spca. if spca is doing their what the society is set up to do, then the animal situation shouldn't worsen. but the truth of the matter is things are getting from bad to worse. take the recent dbkl cruelty case. should it have happened? spca is in the midst of it all and the spca rep. there dare to deny knowledge of it. isn't that ridiculous? furkids is right.

i may seem to be anti-spca - but why? if spca is doing what it's supposed to do, does the lady in titiwangsa need to sell her bungalow? i know of someone who uses FD of rm30,000 for the strays. should that be necessary? there shouldn't be so many private rescuers (using their own money) if spca is effective. on the other hand, spca is collecting so much funds, for what???? there should be accountability to the public as the funds used are public funds.

to me, it appears that spca is redundant. other people are doing their jobs (financed by own pockets) but spca only acts as 'fundraisers'. if spca ceased to exist, i'm sure no one is affected at all - not rescue work, for sure. the only obvious effect is sponsors get to save their money and maybe put it to better use.

whoever thinks that i'm out to bash spca right and left, please let me tell u that should spca show that animal welfare is their no. 1 concern, not NATO, then i'll definitely queue up to support them. maybe with the present people running spca, it's difficult. maybe, too, someone can tell me how often the committee changes. is it like some organisations - same old faces, year in year out; same old selfish policies, year in year out?

anyway, i know it's pointless writing further abt issues like this in a forum, it's sure to be misconstrued......so i prefer my blog where i can honestly empty my thoughts.

kudos to Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better and Wani and IPR and most of all to all noble self-financing rescuers who do it from the heart for the animals and not for self-glorification and publicity (except me who does it because of my great failing).

Last edited by blackie007; 03-20-2009 at 12:23 AM.