Malaysia Veterinary Forum (Archive)

Dr. TanDY · Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 9:03 pm Post subject: Stop exploiting rescued animals

Stop exploiting rescued animals

Date: 10 July 2006

By: Ann Ramayah, Kuala Lumpur

Hardly a week has gone by since the elephant Mat Chepor's death and a new report has emerged about another baby elephant called Mardos dying a slow and painful death at Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary in Lanchang, Pahang.

Mardos was found by Wildlife Department (Perhilitan) staff last July in a well in Jemaluang, Johor. He was only three months old. It is believed his mother had to leave him because she had no way of getting him out of the well.

Mardos should have died in the well because he suffered a much worse fate in the hands of Perhilitan. A news report said that following his transfer to Kuala Gandah, tourists complained that this elephant was all skin and bones.

Acting on the complaints, Perhilitan transferred Mardos to its headquarters in Cheras and supposedly nursed him back to health over a period of three months, but then sent this poor baby elephant back to the same hell hole he came out of - Kuala Gandah.

Why did they not investigate why Mardos was skin and bones in the first place?

On July 1, as Mardos was being taken to a school in Temerloh for a "show" he slipped in the truck and fractured his hind legs near the knees. The report says animal transfer protocol was not observed.

We still don't know what sort of "show" this was. Kuala Gandah is a sanctuary, for goodness sake. Not a circus. You don't make elephants perform at a sanctuary. People come to the sanctuary to visit and learn about them and the elephant is given freedom, dignity, respect and love.

To make matters worse, Mardos was taken to University Putra Malaysia (UPM) veterinary hospital only two days after the accident despite his severe injuries and being in what must be excruciating pain!

His suffering did not end there. UPM veterinarians claimed his injuries "were too difficult" to fix and sent him back to Kuala Gandah. This poor baby had to endure this painful journey for nothing.

Now he has been sent back to heal on his own. The report quoted a source saying, Mardos recovery would depend on his resilience to pain.

Resilience to pain? How much more pain does Perhilitan intend to inflict on him?

Now UPM and Perhilitan don't even have the decency to put Mardos out of his misery. Can they not just put him down? Has he not suffered enough?

If Mardos' mother knew Perhilitan would "rescue" him from the well, she would have just dropped a boulder on her baby and killed him to save him from the fate of falling into the hands of the authorities our government has entrusted to look after our wildlife.

The Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary should be shut down.

Perhilitan must undergo a complete revamp with special emphasis placed on animal welfare and understanding of animal behaviour.

Dr. TanDY

Quote:
To make matters worse, Mardos was taken to University Putra Malaysia (UPM) veterinary hospital only two days after the accident despite his severe injuries and being in what must be excruciating pain!

His suffering did not end there. UPM veterinarians claimed his injuries "were too difficult" to fix and sent him back to Kuala Gandah. This poor baby had to endure this painful journey for nothing.

Is this the truth? Anyone know what happened in UPM please let us know!

Dr Nat · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 1834 Location: Klang Valley

I heard that in the end, Dr Abraham put a cast on the poor baby elephant's leg.

Sarah · Joined: 20 Jan 2006 Posts: 4

I think it's unfair to comment if you've only heard one side of the story. Anyone who has ever worked with Dr. Abraham will know that any animal under his care receives only the best care and treatment possible...

Dr. TanDY · Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 7:22 am Post subject:

Sarah wrote: I think it's unfair to comment if you've only heard one side of the story. Anyone who has ever worked with Dr. Abraham will know that any animal under his care receives only the best care and treatment possible...

It will be great if Dr Abraham can join the forum and tell us something about this case. I have personally invited him to join the forum months ago. Perhaps he is too busy to drop by...

varanus · Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 469

What is told in news paper is only one side of the story. They didn't tell the whole story. Only the juicy part, pointing finger.

There no such thing as put down a wildlife. No matter how bad the condition, the person in charge has to try his best, that's what Dr Abraham and co is doing. There are doing a great job giving Thomas splint to the jumbo. Complications do occur, especially wildlife. Stress from the limelight from the newspaper might be one of the cause contributing to the death.

Dr Nat · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 1834 Location: Klang Valley

Got a note from Dr Fatimah and Dr Cheng from UPM.
Dr. Fatimah wrote: We were consulted and we discuseed the best option for the calf and the care takers are doing what is appropriate over there.
I have not bothered about sensationalisation in newspaper.
Dr. Cheng wrote: Yes we made a diagnosis and gave the people responsible for their elephant's well being their options . That they made their own choices we cannot contest. Their vets came in full force to learn of the diagnosis, we believe that their choices made are based on what they know is acheivable in the living area for the elephants.

Vets arent clairvoyants . They based diagnosis and prognosis on sound scientific proff and reasoning where possible. To do everything possible for this baby , we needed convincing evidence. If we would have been able to fix the patient we would have done it, we dont carry out useless treatments to pretend we are fixing things that cant be fixed. we dont fake it.

Dr. TanDY · Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 10:21 pm Post subject:

nice work Dr Nat. I know they did their best.