Sunday, September 27, 2015

Kill or not to kill ?


After reading the following written by Debi Phuah, I have no choice but to agree with CM Lim Guan Eng's decision.

From Debi Phuah :


Everyone is asking for vaccination but has anyone realised that vaccination only works for dogs that have yet to be infected? It will not cure a dog that has already been infected. 

Everyone talks about vaccination like it is some cure for rabies! The symptoms for an infected dog only shows up between 2 to 8 weeks, so meanwhile what then happens when one of this dogs goes and bite a human? Also, vaccination is not a one time thing. After the initial vaccination it will require booster shots on a yearly basis. Who is going to pay for all of these? And lastly, with the amount of strays that we have how are you going to conduct the vaccination at one go? Say you catch 20, vaccinate them and release them. How are you going to identify one stray from the next?

I hear a lot of people complaining, but has anyone thought about the practicality of conducting mass vaccinations? I know NGOs from other countries has offered to help but it will take a while for the vaccine to get here as approvals etc are needed, but what if it is too late by then and human lives have been loss? Also, has anyone thought about the fact that the mass culling is not so much to contain the disease, but to prevent human fatalities as well? If it was so easy to contain a virus, we might as well hunt down all the bats and cull them (after all they are the carriers of the rabies disease). But the issue here is not so much about containment but human health and life. 

So please, cut CM Lim Guan Eng some slack. He is between a rock and a hard place. Try being in his shoes. The welfare of his people or the welfare of the dogs? Would you still sing the same tune if you had a family member fall victim to this disease?

So for all you so called animal lovers who are so busy condemning here is a suggestion on how you can walk your talk : Adopt a stray or 2 or 10, vaccinate them, if they start to show symptoms, then put them to sleep. If they are not infected then they are now your pets and your responsibility. Give them the required booster shots every year. How about that?



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