Rabies is everyone’s concern

What a relief it was for everyone last Friday when it was announced that the culling of stray dogs in Penang, which began about three weeks ago, was to cease.

There was no longer a threat of a rabies outbreak turning into an ugly epidemic on the island city.

All human beings, especially dogs, were safe, for now, pending a mass vaccination exercise for canines.

When I first wrote about this in my column a fortnight ago, I listed down several fundamental points which the issue had raised up for me.

But as the days progressed, more and more new ideas and learning points kept cropping up.

Here are some of them:

Congratulations are in order to our men and women who risked everything, including their very lives, in order to ensure our safety.

These included everyone from the top to those at the frontline and the “battlefields”.

Thank you, chief minister, local governments and health departments for staying diligently on course in your mission.

You proved to be strong and acted decisively when some were sometimes confused and weak.

The targeted culling – an initial reduction of strays in rabies hot spot areas – was clearly vital.

And it has now obviously paid off – hence the cessation.

More importantly, syabas for keeping it humane.

You went to great pains to ensure that the dogs were sedated by darts first before being euthanised (meaning “good death”).

I don’t know why some animal activists complained about the exercise “being brutal” and “barbaric” when you guys didn’t do all the horrid things that many other countries have been guilty of in their anti-rabies measures.

These include poisoning, shooting-to-death, bludgeoning and electrocuting strays which, when you think about it, would have been a much “easier way out” in such a daunting task.

I also came away with a new and deeper respect and understanding for veterinarians. God bless all of them!  

I’ve always appreciated animal doctors for being there for our pets when all the doors of hope have been closed shut when our loving pets are confronted with incurable diseases, such as cancer or a debilitating and painful paralysis.  

Vets have always been there for our dogs and cats – and us – to take away their intense pain and relieve them from their suffering.

But this is the first time that I realised that in life-threatening and complicated conditions like rabies, when extremely tough decisions need to be made about who or what lives or dies for the greater good of all living beings in our society, it is still they to whom we have turn in our desperation.

It is the veterinarians’ expertise and services and indomitable courage that we have to call upon to make a final, most sensible and dignified choice when animals make their final journey into the afterlife.

The way I saw it as an animal activist, the sacrifice of some stray dogs, no matter how regrettable, was the “necessary evil” and “greater good” path to take so that an even greater number of other strays can be spared from facing the same fate.

And let us never forget the dogcatchers in all of this.

Those intrepid brave men (much like fire-fighters) put their own lives on the line in the battleground by not only keeping human beings safe but also rescuing the strays from a life of indignity, torture and misery.

Let’s hope that after this nightmare is over, we will appreciate the role that these frequently unrecognised and unsung heroes play in our society.

Let’s also hope that they will be paid better wages as many never are.

Local councils should set aside special budgets for them in order to facilitate better and more humane training and skills in their jobs as they struggle to put food on the table for their families.

Councils should realise and treat dog-catching as a professional and skilful task – and hold regular refresher courses for their dogcatchers.       

Last week, I had the chance to join about 50 animal lovers, NGOs, veterinarians and human health services staff in a special briefing on rabies in Putrajaya.

The meeting was chaired by Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek.  

The Department of Veterinary Services, which organised the meeting, gave us the lowdown on its anti-rabies exercise. 

However, the reaction and attitude of some of the animal welfare NGOs was disappointing.

Judging from the way they spoke from the floor, they didn’t seem to be concerned about rabies per se, but rather on the fact that stray dogs were being killed.

They didn’t seem to be interested to want to know why but all they wanted is for culling to be stopped.

To me I thought that this didn’t augur well for them and their general cause in championing for the rights of animals in our society.

Because rabies wasn’t and isn’t purely a serious issue for the welfare of animals, but also those of every man, woman and children as well who remain vulnerable to the deadly disease.

I wish that they could see that. – October 12, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.