First of all a big thank you to Dr. Tammy Pooke, who has now come twice to Awana Spelling Station and treated both horses free of charge. Tammy as some of you may or may not know is a lovely lady who has just moved from S. Africa and is a qualified animal and in particular horse chiropractor. Her number is 017 2185854 if you would like more information on this. My horses have all been done and its not just about my horses getting a good massage out of this but all the little nicks and cricks are sorted and she makes sure that your saddle is properly fitted to your horse. Anyway was up to see Derek two days ago and he is looking so good. I don’t think he is as old as when I first saw him anymore. I would age him anywhere between 17 – 20. His muscles are coming thru now and he is very well. Also very sweet to handle esp. in the stable. I was at first going to send him up to Kelantan RDA as they were needing a bigger quiet horse for their bigger children but under advice from MEM and some vets was told sending a horse to Kelantan was asking for trouble as was told and this is hearsay that there are certain issues with their level of horse care. But given how well Derek has bounced back am not longer too worried about finding him a home. He is just so sweet. There are rumours that he used to be a 1m40 horse but who knows because asking around there used to be another grey called Deren and he could also have been the one that jumped. So no one really knows which horse is which – like having a twin that stole your identity.
Dillon on the other had is just getting old. He is now blind is one eye and suffering from muscle wastage. He’s ribs aren’t showing or anything but his back has shrunk and am not entirely sure how we can build that up again. He doesn’t really respond well to the horse walker and is just stiff. Our vet is coming sometime next week to take a look at him and see what else we can do for him. We might have to be realistic about him but we’ll see. Poor old man.
I presume you guys have been following the horrific stories from Pulau Ketam. If not and you interested do keep yourself updated on the main SPCA website http://www.spca.org.my/v51 . For those of you who have not been following here is the background information:
Pulau Ketam consists of two settlements – Pulau Ketam Village and Sungai Lima Village. Both villages claim to have been facing a stray dog crisis for the last several years. Earlier this month, newspapers reported that Pulau Ketam villagers were trapping stray dogs and transporting them to a 3 vacant island in a desperate attempt to reduce the population of dogs. Sungai Lima villagers later started a similar operation.
Pulau Ketam villagers reported that 312 dogs had already been trapped and abandoned on uninhabited Pulau Tengah out of an estimated population of 2000, while Sungai Lima villagers estimated their stray dog population to be around 600.
SPCA Animal Inspectors Cunera and Murugan, and SAS founder Jackie Tsang made a trip to Pulau Ketam earlier this week. They found that most of the villagers owned dogs themselves, and had no intention of causing harm to the strays on the island. They were frustrated at the stray dog population, which is quickly spiraling out of control – the villagers estimate that there are approximately 2000 strays on the island. The villagers said that they did not want the dogs caught and euthanized, and thought that leaving them to survive on another island would be better. The villagers were upset with the reports in the media, which claimed that they had been burning the dogs or abusing them – which they denied doing.
The team found that during the day time, there were dozens of stray cats and dogs roaming the island. However, when they surveyed a part of the town from 12.30pm-1.30am, they counted 82 dogs in just a small area. The dogs look generally healthy, with several suffering from minor injuries.
At a meeting with the village leaders, they agreed to support a mass sterilization effort for both stray and pet dogs (and cats) by SPCA and SAS.
If you are interested in making a donation:
How You Can Help
SPCA and SAS are appealing to the public to contribute to their Pulau Ketam fund, to aid the emergency rescue and relief efforts over the next several weeks. Funds will be utilized to hire boats for transportation of the dogs, purchase dog food, medical supplies and cages. The start-up fund is RM1,300 – proceeds from a networking event SPCA organized last Sunday.
We also appreciate donations in kind – 3’ x 3’ multipurpose cages, dog biscuits and canned food, food and water bowls, towels, water storage containers, and flea/tick spray. All donated items can be sent to the SPCA Animal Shelter in Ampang Jaya.
Donate Online
Please click here to make a donation through our ipay88.com account. Please indicate that the donation is for the Pulau Ketam Project.
Fund Transfers & Cheques
You can bank in the payment to our RHB account (Account No: 2-12273-00021583). Please call or e-mail us at enquiries@spca.org.my to notify us of your bank-in donation and transaction details.
Please make all cheques to the Society For The Prevention of Cruelty To Animals (please write Pulau Ketam fund on the reverse), and mail to :
SPCA Selangor
Jalan Kerja Ayer Lama
68000 Ampang Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Enquiries: 603-42565312 (8am – 4.30pm), 4253-5312 (10am – 6.30pm)
Filed under: Selangor SPCA Tagged: | Dillon
