Yang Amat Arif Tun Dato' Sri Ahmad Fairuz bin Dato' Sheikh Abdul Halim
Chief Justice's
Dec 1, 2005
Yang Amat Arif,
Re: Open letter to the Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Malaysia Malaysians are said to be a “caring” and considerate lot. At least that is what we keep telling ourselves. But over the years, we have been bombarded with the brutal neglect, starvation, merciless beating, torture and killing of pets by cruel owners.
The court, that pillar of righteousness and integrity that we look towards for justice, has failed these voiceless victims by merely standing by and doing little more than meting out token sentences against convicted owners.
Section 44(1)(d) of the Animal Ordinance 1953 provides for a maximum RM200 fine, or a maximum six months jail or both, for those convicted of animal cruelty. And yet, this archaic, pre-Merdeka law is rarely, if ever enforced to its full extent.
Judges mete out fines of RM100 in most cases, and when an animal cruelty case is highlighted in the Media, then perhaps a custodial sentence is passed, but that too of only between one and three days. In most cases, even this is hardly meted out.
However, the injustice does not end here. These voiceless victims are returned to their cruel owners, even though the law does not require the courts to do so. Often, the animals are tortured again after a short reprieve. Surely, Yang Amat Arif, it was not the intention of the legal minds who drafted the Animal Ordinance 1953, to have this happen.
As outdated as it may be, this law was nonetheless enacted to protect all of God’s creatures against man’s brutality. But if the courts fail to mete out exemplary sentences that befit the horrendous torture and suffering inflicted on helpless animals and protect them from further abuse, then who else can they turn to for justice?
Meanwhile, these voiceless creatures of the animal kingdom continue to suffer under a battery of cruel owners. Hence, we, members of the Remembering Sheena Campaign, are now adding our voice to the animal kingdom’s cry for justice.
It is often said that justice has not only got to be done, it has to be seen to be done. Until such time that the Animal Ordinance 1953 is amended, we ask that the courts be seen to be meting out justice by passing appropriate custodial sentences as prescribed by the Ordinance. This is our plea to you, Yang Amat Arif, as the Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Malaysia.
Yang Amat Arif, according to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ( Just like humans who live under such deplorable conditions, these animals too suffer “emotional scars” that may cause them to become violent and hurt unsuspecting bystanders as they lash out in frustration. However, as such cases rarely involve “bodily injuries” to the animals, there is insufficient “physical evidence” to prosecute the culprits.
So it comes as little surprise that between January 2003 and November 2005, only six animal cruelty cases were prosecuted in Yang Amat Arif, according to scholars and legal consultants in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), cruelty to animals is prohibited even under the Islamic Syaria on which laws of that country are based.
Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba, a Dubai-based legal consultant, told the Gulf News newspaper published on Oct 31 this year, that UAE law states:
“Every person who maliciously and intentionally maims, mutilates or tortures a living animal, or maliciously and intentionally kills an animal, is guilty of an offence punishable by imprisonment of up to one year, or by a fine of not more then Dh10,000 (RM10,300), or by both the fine and the imprisonment.” The law applies to both pets and free roaming animals.
In the same article, Shaik Mohammad Sulaiman Faraj, a scholar in the UAE Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Awqaf, quoted the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) as having said:
“A man saw a dog eating mud (from the severity of thirst). So that man took a shoe and filled it with water and kept on pouring the water for the dog till it quenched its thirst. So Allah approved of his deed and permitted him to enter
He added: “The Prophet said a woman entered Hell because of a cat which she had tied, neither giving it food nor setting it free to eat from the vermin of the earth.”
Having learned this, what can we, as Malaysians, say for the manner in which our courts have meted out justice under the Animal Ordinance 1953?
In one case, a Daschund called Tim was chained so tightly round his neck that the chain became embedded into the skin and a six-inch wound exposed a bloody mess.
Tim’s suffering continued long after he was saved as he required several operations to remove the embedded chain. His owner fared better as he was only fined RM150 and sentenced to one day in jail. In “justice” akin to Malaysian animal cruelty cases, the court returned poor Tim to his owner.
And then we have Sheena, the German Shepherd. Almost starved to death, this poor animal could not be saved and had to be put to sleep. Yet, her owner was only fined RM100. No custodial sentence was passed.
Two cases – one resulting in death – but two different sentences. Neither one is justified in light of the suffering experienced by these poor creatures. And dogs are supposed to be man’s best friend? Perhaps they have placed their trust in the wrong specie. In the latest case of animal cruelty, a breeder had just faced trial under the same Ordinance for allegedly causing neglect to four of his cats, causing them misery. He is accused of failing to give them proper treatment, resulting in the cats suffering skin disease and conjunctivitis. The outcome of this case is still pending.
These are only the recent cases that have come to light. It is anybody’s guess how many other nameless and faceless animals continue to suffer each day because they have yet to be rescued from man’s brutality.
Yang Amat Arif, Mahatma Gandhi is often quoted as saying that “the greatness of a nation is seen from the way it treats its animals”. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate if he had said instead that justice can only be gauged by the manner in which the courts mete out sentences.
In the interest of justice, let it not be said that Tim, Sheena, and other victims like them had suffered or died in vain. Let stand out as a nation that truly enforces the law to the letter. Let there be an end to token sentencing. Let justice prevail.
Signed,
Shoba Mano for the Founding Members Remembering Sheena Campaign
Precinct 3
62506 Putrajaya
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