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PETALING JAYA: Pet abusers, be warned! You may find yourselves
confined in a 'kennel' of a different kind - the prison - under a
proposed amendment to the existing Animal Act 1953 (Revised 2006).
This is the penalty which awaits pet abusers under the proposal, said Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Deputy Minister Datuk Chua Tee Yong, adding that they could also be slapped with a higher penalty.
He said the ministry would consult the relevant parties, including
non-governmental organisations (NGOs), industry players and the public
to get their input before a final decision was made on the proposal.
Chua noted that the current act was insufficient to meet the
requirement of animal welfare due to the current times and lifestyles of
the pet owners.
"We will include a lot of things which are not inside the Animal Welfare 1953 Act as times have changed.
"More requirement and a new lifestyle of the pet owners also need to be
taken into consideration, especially involving animal abuse,” he said.
"As
for now, we are looking to increase the current penalty for pet abuse
from RM200 to RM50,000 and of course, it must include the jail term
meted out by the court," he said.
The deputy minister was
speaking to reporters after officiating the 10th Graduation Ceremony of
Canine Obedience Training at the Central Park Bandar Utama here.
The outdoor community project on dog obedience and agility training
programme was organised by the Malaysian National Animal Welfare
Foundation to nurture, develop human-animal bond and socialise the pets
with their owners.
Chua said the ministry would also be coming
up with few initiatives to develop a fine caring society towards
animals, including introducing the Animal Welfare Guidelines for pets
and livestocks owners to assist them with the best practices on handling
pets and livestock.
The ministry was also looking at developing
an accredition system in terms of corporation of animal welfare for pet
shops and breeding centres, he said.- Bernama
Read More: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/4/22/nation/20120422170830&sec=nation
