Toy poodle abusers still not found
LIVE THE MOMENT
By DAWN JEREMIAH
IT amazes me how law enforcement authorities deal with criminal offenses sometimes. Really, what does it take for them to start moving and get something done? How difficult is it to investigate or even catch the culprits whose names, addresses and even car number plates have been tipped off to them?
Most of you would have already read or heard about this, but for those not in the know, I am talking about the havoc surrounding the toy poodle abuse video that has gone viral from Facebook, to YouTube and around the world.
The video was first uploaded on Facebook on Jan 21 by an individual who has requested to remain unnamed. The video was downloaded and went viral soon after. I first read about it in Singapore Straits Times’STOMP website on Jan 24; thumbs up to them for being quick on their feet, highlighting such an appalling case of animal cruelty.
Although animal abuse is something that I absolutely cannot tolerate, I just had to watch it. And watched it, I did. I will spare you the heartbreaking details but let’s just say there was a lot of slapping, punching, pushing, shoving, slamming, throwing and kicking.
All this just to “train” the poor puppy to stand on its hind legs. The toy poodle was called by the name “Sushi” in the video and measures only about one and a half feet tall.
Cruel: The YouTube footage showing a man abusing the poodle by trying to get it to stand on its hind feet.Which makes me question the mentality of the dog owners. Who, in their right mind, would insist that a dog uses two legs instead of four? Don’t they know that dogs can’t do that, even more so, for a long period of time? Who are they to defy nature?
To avoid cases like this from happening again, how do we ensure that dog owners take proper care of their pets? There is no real way of assuring that, as even children get physically and emotionally abused by their own parents.
Remember back in October 2010, a photo of two teenage boys hanging a dog on a string surfaced? That photo caused an uproar after a popular local actress posted the photo on her Twitter account. Sure, that gesture got everyone talking about it. But alas, that was an outdated photo from many years ago and the two boys were found out to be Mexican, not even Malaysian.
But this time, it is definitely apparent that the abusers of the toy poodle are Malaysian, from their localised Mandarin and Cantonese accents that could be heard throughout the duration of the 15-minute video.
To date, over a thousand concerned Malaysians have signed an online petition to catch the culprits. They also launched an elaborate investigation on Facebook, scanning walls, friends lists, photos and putting two and two together, of who the abusers may be. All that was done within a day and there were many leads to the names and identities of the abusive couple.
The alleged dog owner even had many photos in her Facebook profile showing the toy poodle named “Sushi” standing up.
There was also another unnamed dog who appeared in several photos, standing up. Who knows the amount of abuse that went behind each photo. There were also photos of her in an outfit, which was identical to an outfit seen in the video, strewn on the floor.
The Facebook investigators also identified the alleged abuser in some of her photos, pointing out the similarities in hair style, hair colour and the fact that both the abuser in the video and the man in the photo wore identical gold rings on their right index fingers.
Authentic or not, this is as far as laymen can go. What else is there to do, take matters into our own hands?
It pains me to ponder on whether the authorities are being selective in their cases. Are we that shorthanded in manpower? Animal abuse using brute force happens all the time, and this was just one of the cases that just happened to be caught on video.
Perhaps the video wasn’t moving enough for them? Perhaps they didn’t even bother to watch the video?
I think it is great that the SPCA Selangor, Malaysian Animal Rights Society, Malacca Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Veterinary Services Department are taking some form of action to track down the abusers.
As much as we want the guilty parties to face the law, it would be helpful if the call for the maximum fine of RM50,000 for animal abusers gets approved, instead of the miserable RM200 from 1953. Just watch the video and look into Sushi’s big brown eyes begging you to help him.
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