The Purpose of Animal Welfare Organisations

Last year, Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary (NANAS) launched a new pilot program called the mobile Animal Birth Control (ABC) clinic to facilitate the sterilisation street cats, dogs and for owners who cannot afford the cost of sterilisation in Malaysia.

The cost of sterilisation is either at a subsidised rate or given free, depending on a case by case basis which will be assessed by Raymund Wee, founder of NANAS.

Through the continued efforts of goodwill and collaborations, Noah's Ark has also helped other animal welfare organizations such as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Johor Bahru. 

These three kittens were part of a street rescue that SPCA had conducted to reduce the number of strays through sterilisation. SPCA conducts street rescues when there is a sharp increase in the stray population or when a complaint is filed so that they can monitor the situation closely.

However, due to the high volume of rescues that SPCA JB conducts daily, the organization is also overwhelmed with the number of sick and injured animals that are in need of urgent treatment. This is where Noah's Ark comes in to lend its resources in helping SPCA JB with the temporary housing of these animals after medical treatment and sterilisation. With the ABC clinic, animals that cannot be treated at SPCA JB are brought into Noah's Ark for treatment and then returned.

By helping one another as organisations, more animals have the opportunity to find a second chance at getting a good owner and a loving home where they can live out the rest of their lives in safety and not on the streets.

At the sanctuary, these three kittens are brought in for a general health-screening and sterilisation. When the sterilisation is done, the kittens are then brought back to SPCA JB for adoption. These active collaborations between the two animal welfare organizations offer a glimpse of pooling together more resources and ways to help more animals. This will in turn give more animals the chance to lead better lives and to actively reduce the stray population through active partnerships and collaborations.

However, Raymund hopes that the many animal welfare organisations stay focus and are passionate in helping the animals whole-heartedly and not half-heartedly. He gives an analogy of an accident prone area where there is a high amount of accidents; there should be preventive measures to reduce the number of accidents by installing more lights and to address the issue thoroughly to prevent more casualties. It is necessary to sterilise all the strays and not only a certain portion.

He terms it as the “fire-engine syndrome” in animal welfare and it reflects on the attitude of animal welfare groups. He says, “When there is a siren, these groups will act, but they do not address the issue sufficiently to prevent it from happening again which is the problem.” He hopes that more proactive steps can be taken to address the stray problem at certain places which is to release, relocate or re-home them and nip the stray issue in the bud instead of giving up halfway.
 

By Darren Chan