UTAR News / Awards

To shed light on the right ways to treat animals and to fight against animal cruelty, a group of nine Bachelor of Corporate Communication (Honours) students from the Faculty of Creative Industries (FCI) organised an awareness event on animal cruelty titled “Paws for Thought” on 28 November 2020 via Paws For Thought Facebook page. The Facebook event aimed to spread awareness on animal cruelty and to educate the public on how to avoid animal cruelty. It also provided knowledge on how to become a good owner for pets.

The organising committee members of Paws for Thought were Angelina Chin Hui Theng (Chairperson), Kiara Zoe Augustus (Secretary), Magdalene Ng Jing Min (Treasurer), Lim Jie Ming (Publicity), Soo Jo Xin (Publicity), Chan Yan Nee (Programme), A. Abraham Sesupillai (Logistics), Chong Zhi Khang (Sponsorship) and Ong Thai Win (Sponsorship).

Among the activities conducted were “Exclusive SPCA (The Society For The Prevention of Cruelty To Animals) Interview: An Inside Look on SPCA and Their Animal Rescue”, “Talk For Paws: Animal Cruelty and Animal Care” and “Train Your Paws: Tips and Tricks to Train Dogs in the Right Way with a Short Demonstration”.

The event kick-started with opening speeches delivered by FCI Dean Dr David Tneh Cheng Eng, FCI Department of Mass Communication Acting Head Dr Tan Jue Jun and Paws For Thought Chairperson Chin.

In his opening speech, Dr David Tneh introduced the event and said, “In conjunction with Sustainable Development Goal No. 15, this Facebook event titled Paws for Thoughts is also the Final Year Project (FYP) of nine FCI students. I think it is very timely and very noble for the students to undertake this project. Although the Animal Welfare Act was passed in the year 2015, a lot of things still needs to be done pertaining to the issue of animal cruelty.”

Dr Tan also congratulated the students in successfully conducting the event under the supervision of FCI lecturer Khor Gee Khing. “I hope that this event will eventually enlighten us with more issues surrounding animal cruelty and educate us in doing better for our innocent furry friends,” said Dr Tan.

On behalf of the organising committee, Chin expressed her gratitude to their partners, sponsors, donor and their supervisor. According to Chin, her life changed ever since she adopted her pet. “I have no regrets at all because I realise I have given Belle, not just a shelter but also a new life. Hence, I believe ‘Paws for Thought’ is not only an event to create awareness but also to educate the public about animal cruelty. It is also a reminder for everyone to think before doing anything involving animal welfare,” Chin said.

SPCA Senior Officer Kelvin Cheah explained the roles and functions of SPCA. According to Kelvin Cheah, SPCA Selangor is an integrated rehabilitation centre and rehoming shelter. In order to give animals a better quality of life, the SPCA has tried to provide more services to public rescuers since 2013.

Speaking of SPCA’s rescue procedures, Kelvin Cheah explained, “Priorities are given to animals that need medical attention. Firstly, we will confirm the location of the injured dog or cat after receiving a call from the public. Then, we will pick up the animal and send it to the clinic for assessment and treatment. After seeing the veterinarian, the animal will then be rehabilitated.”

The session was followed by a virtual tour to the building of SPCA Selangor by Kelvin Cheah.

The talk session titled “Talk For Paws: Animal Cruelty and Animal Care” was conducted by Researcher and Veterinarian at MARDI (Kluang) Dr Predith Michael based on animal care surrounding “5 Freedoms”. He explained, “When we talk about animal welfare, there are basically 5 Freedoms to talk about; ‘Freedom from hunger or thirst’, ‘Freedom from discomfort’, ‘Freedom from fear and distress’, ‘Freedom to express (most) normal behaviour’ and ‘Freedom from pain, injury or disease’.”

The talk session titled “Train Your Paws: Tips and Tricks to Train Dogs in the Right Way with a Short Demonstration” was conducted by the owner of Rawei K9 Training Centre K. Ravindar. He shared and demonstrated the right and wrong ways to train dogs. Ravindar is a retired dog instructor in the police force K-9 unit. During his sharing session, Ravindar demonstrated some dog training methods and explained the importance of using the right techniques to train dogs.

“The most important thing in training a dog is to socialise with them. If you reward the dog, the dog will be friendly but if you torture (abuse) the dog, the dog will be your greatest enemy,” said Ravindar while demonstrating the different methods of training a dog.