This is one of the ‘hot items’ appearing in the newspapers, especially this week…

Plight of the swamp dogs
PORT KLANG: Animal activist Sabrina Yeap couldn’t hold back her tears when she saw the condition of the dogs that Pulau Ketam residents had dumped on an uninhabited island.

Dogs run deeper into island on seeing rescuers
PORT KLANG: The dogs abandoned on an uninhabited island by Pulau Ketam residents were so frightened at the sight of a big group of people that they fled deeper into the island.

A five-member team from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and nine newsmen came to the island off Pulau Selat Kering yesterday on a mission to rescue the dogs.

“Only two dogs were captured. The others just ran off,” said SPCA spokesman Jacinta Johnson.

Rescue groups swing into action
PORT KLANG: Animal welfare groups are rushing to an island near here to rescue hundreds of dogs dumped there by Pulau Ketam residents.

Outrage over Klang Council sanction in marooning strays
PULAU KETAM, Selangor, May 6 — The capture and dumping of stray dogs from Pulau Ketam to other islands were sanctioned and funded by Klang Municipal Council and councillors.

Stray dogs shipped off to an island
RESIDENTS of Pulau Ketam turned dogcatchers recently, to help curb the stray dog population on their island.

The residents, mostly fishermen, had built contraptions to trap the dogs that were then sent to a nearby-uninhabited island.

According to village head Cha Keng Lee, the residents had written to the Klang Municipal Council (MPK) alerting them about the large number of strays on the island.

“The MPK councillor in charge of Pulau Ketam used the money allocated to his service centre on the island to fund the dog-catching project,’’ said Cha adding that residents were paid RM10 for a big dog, RM8 for a medium-sized dog and RM5 for a small dog that they managed to trap.

Cha claimed the money was used to build the traps as well as transport the dogs to the uninhabited island known as Pulau Tengah.

He added about 400 out of the estimated 2,000 stray dogs in Pulau Ketam were trapped and sent to the island last month alone.

When asked if they would be able to survive on the island, Cha said there were a lot of food source on the island such as fish, crabs, lizards, snakes and wild boar.

He said the dogs were sent to the island to prevent them from being destroyed by the MPK.

When contacted MPK councillor in charge of Pulau Ketam Tee Beng Lee said residents had in the past caught and sent dogs to another island, which was nearer to the main island than Pulau Tengah.

I’m speechless. I really don’t know what to say… It seems these dogs were sent to the island (with ‘good intentions’), but I guess someone failed to realise dogs can’t fish for food. There’s hardly anything to eat there. And since they were not neutered or spayed, naturally their population will increase! Also, it seems there are not fresh water on that isolated island!

If you want to follow up on the latest updates, do visit http://www.mycen.com.my/rescue/index.html. You should also take a look at the photo-story on that site highlighting the plight of these stray dogs…

And if you want to give the Klang Municipal Council a piece if your mind, their website is www.mpklang.gov.my.

SPCA and SAS (Save A Stray) has started emergency relief efforts. You can read more about it at the SPCA website. I’ve also taken some of the photos from the SPCA site and put them here… But a word of caution, don’t expect a pretty sight!

Exiled Pulau Ketam stray dog eating food provided by SPCA

Exiled Pulau Ketam stray dog eating what appears to be the carcass of a dead dog