'Ban people from keeping wildlife as pets'

The Star
April 20, 2008

MIRI: The Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) division in Penang has called for a blanket ban on the keeping of wildlife as pets and wants the Government to make sure that no permit would be issued to anybody to keep such animals.
SAM president S.M. Mohd Idris said the recent death of a sun bear at a private farm in Miri after prolonged abused, was a classic example of the horrible and long-lasting sufferings these animals may have to endure.
Not only is keeping these wild animals in confinement cruel, the practice is also resulting in an irreversible decline in their populations, he said.
"SAM feels very troubled with how easily wild and endangered animals are being captured and used as showpiece in the homes of certain people.
"This is a growing problem. SAM is totally opposed to keeping these wild animals as pets. No permit must be issued at all to anybody to keep these animals in their homes.
"The Wildlife Protection Rules 1998 provides no protection at all for wild animals that are captured from the wild and kept as pets.
"This law does not regulate the ownership of these animals and does not provide any safeguard for their welfare once they are placed under captivity. That is why these animals must not be allowed to be captured (and taken) from the wild," he said.
Last Thursday, the Sarawak Forestry raided a private farm and rescued a variety of monkeys following the recent death of at least one sun bear there.
The cruelty at the farm was exposed by South African expatriate Tweet Gainsborough last August, but for six months, no effort was taken by any enforcement authority to rescue it.

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