Animal Cruelty

TODAY newspaper 16 Sept 2011

(Click to enlarge)

Why do people get a dog only to dump it when a baby comes along? And this isn’t a one off situation - we receive so many calls from people wanting to give up their dogs when their baby is on the way. The excuses range from “my wife is pregnant and we can’t keep the dog”, to “my wife is giving birth next week and if you don’t take our dog, we will send it to the SPCA”. Did you not know your wife was pregnant for the past nine months? Could you not have made the effort to find your dog a new home in those nine months? We also get calls telling us that their dog is black and for superstitious reasons, they must get rid of their dog, or that their baby will have asthma if they don’t get rid of their dog. Excuses? These days nothing amazes me anymore.

The poor Mini Schnauzer when he was just rescued - a living skeleton

Has the dog not given you companionship and unconditional love when you were lonely or in need of a friend? Now that you have a baby, is it right to just “throw” it away so heartlessly? What does it say about you as a person? And what kind of values will you impart to your child? That it is perfectly fine to treat a living sentient being like an inanimate object, like a chair that you just discard when you no longer want or need it?

He was so weak and frail, he could hardly stand or walk; but like all the dogs we 

have rescued over the years, he is very sweet and trusting.

This is what happened when a young couple had their first born and decided to confine their Miniature Schnauzer in a small cage in the toilet and conveniently forgot all about him for six months. Being confined in a toilet cubicle for six long months was bad enough but this was IN A CAGE, in the toilet cubicle, for six long months. The poor dog was confined to the cage and fed only water by the grandfather who came to visit his grandchild and finally, when the grandfather could no longer tolerate the way the dog was treated, he told a friend, who came to take the poor malnourished Mini Schnauzer away. By this time, the poor dog had wasted away and was just skin and bones.

Thankfully, the dog is now safely in the care of a foster; but imagine the pain and suffering it had to endure during those six long lonely months? Not to mention its hunger pangs of surviving only on water for that long period? Now he just needs lots of nutritious food and TLC to rebuild his life again.

How could a human possibly do this to a living creature and not feel any remorse?

The couple apparently felt no remorse whatsoever and thought nothing of what they had done. And to top it off, the husband is a policeman who should know better because under the law, what they did to the dog is an act of animal cruelty that is punishable. As a policeman, he is supposed to uphold the law and protect the weak and helpless (including animals) but instead, he broke the law in his very own home by neglecting and abusing a helpless animal. Shame on him.

Animal abuse is not limited to physically abusing an animal. Neglecting your pet by not giving him food, water and his basic needs (for example if you have a dog, it is your duty to walk him) also constitutes as neglect in the strict sense of the term.

We hope he will realize that what he has done was cruel and totally unacceptable. We hope that he would never repeat such a shameful act again. Better yet, he should never be allowed to ever own a pet.

He is safe now and is waiting for someone to give him the love he has missed out on.

The Miniature Schnauzer has put on some weight and is now with a foster. He is extremely intelligent and is a fast learner. These are his details :

Breed : Mini Schnauzer (white)
Age : 3 years old
Sex : Male
Health : Low blood count and mild kidney problems from malnutrition
Temperament : Gets on well with humans and dogs, extremely intelligent and a fast learner.

Should you wish to adopt him, please email Fiona at pops_snaps@singnet.com.sg