I just read this shocking piece of article at www.spca.org.my
Let's hope it's not too late for us to step up and help these horses.

From : http://spca.org.my/horse.htm

“Dying To Be Rescued”

Scenes of starvation and death greeted tourists who signed up for horse riding on the beach while enjoying their holiday in Sabah, Malaysia.

The tourists had visited the Melinsung ranch located 20 mins South of Kota Kinabalu to sign up for the activity. What they found left them sickened. Starving and weak horses, some unable to stand, were kept in dirty paddocks and stables in and around the ranch. The horses had skin diseases, open wounds and infected sores, and there were reports of many dead and dying horses.

Please go to http://spca.org.my/horse.htm to continue reading.

Please help lobby to the authorities to take action
Also from: http://spca.org.my/horse.htm

Call For ACTION
To take action please lobby the following authorities to take action. Please contact:
DVS KL :
Dato Dr Abd Aziz Bin Jamaluddin
Director General
Department of Veterinary Services
Wisma Tani, Podium Block
Lot 4G1, Precinct 4
Federal Government Administration Centre
62630 PUTRAJAYA
MALAYSIA
Tel: 603- 88888170 | Fax: 603-8888 6051
e-mail : azizj@jph.gov.my

DVS Sabah :
Dato’ Haji Awang Sahak Hj Awang Salleh
Director
Jabatan Perkhidmatan dan Perusahaan Ternak Sabah,
Level 3, Block B,
Wisma Pertanian Sabah
Jln Tasik Luyang
Beg Berkunci 2051
88999 Kota Kinabalu
Sabah, Malaysia
Tel: 088-287401 | Fax: 088-238418
e-mail: AgSahak.AgSalleh@sabah.gov.my

Dear DVS KL/ DVS Sabah

I am writing to express my concern over the Melinsung Ranch, Sabah Cruelty Case where horses are starving and dying after being neglected by the owner of the Ranch, I appeal to you to act in this case and confiscate the horses and prosecute the owner using the animal protection Law in Malaysia – the Animals Act 1953.

Please end the suffering of the Horses immediately and prosecute the owner of the Ranch who is responsible for causing this cruelty.

Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI):
Mr. Ian Williams
Director of Endurance
Driving & Para-Equestrian Dept
Fédération Equestre Internationale
Av Mon-Repos 24
1005 Lausanne
Switzerland
t +41 21 310 84 79
f +41 21 310 47 60
E-mail: i.williams@horsesport.org

Equestrian Association of Malaysia (EAM):
Major Yap Mou Soon
Executive Secretary
Equestrian Association of Malaysia (EAM):
A12-3A Jalan Selaman 1/1
Dataran Palma
Jalan Ampang
68000 Selangor Darul Ehsan
Malaysia
Tel: (603) 4278 4846, 42702467, 4270 6847
Fax: (603) 4270 6846
E-mail: eam99@tm.net.my, equestrian_mas@yahoo.com, msyap@eam.org.my

Dear FEI/ EAM,

I am writing to express my concern over the Melinsung Ranch, Sabah Cruelty Case where horses are starving and dying after being neglected by the owner of the Ranch, I appeal to you to act in this case and put pressure on the DVS in KL and Sabah to confiscate the horses and prosecute the owner using the animal protection Law in Malaysia – the Animals Act 1953.

Please consider the events and future cooperation your Association has with Malaysia due to the suffering of horses at the Sabah Ranch.

Ministry Of Tourism Malaysia
Y.B. Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor
Minister of Tourism
Ministry of Tourism Malaysia
Level 6, 21-23, 32-36, Menara Dato' Onn,
Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC),
45 Jalan Tun Ismail,
50695 Kuala Lumpur,
Federal Territory,
Malaysia
T : +6 03 2693 7111
F : +6 03 2694 1146
e-mail : info@motour.gov.my

Dear Ministry of Tourism Malaysia,

I am writing to express my concern over the Melinsung Ranch, Sabah Cruelty Case where horses are starving and dying after being neglected by the owner of the Ranch, I appeal to you to act in this case and put pressure on the DVS in KL and Sabah to confiscate the horses and prosecute the owner using the animal protection Law in Malaysia – the Animals Act 1953.

Since the case surfaced in June 2007, SPCA Selangor and the World Society For The Protection Of Animals (WSPA) have received hundreds of e-mails from the international community who are outraged that the welfare of the horses are being blatantly disregarded and that the situation for the animals has not improved in the last 8 months. Please be aware that the reputation and image of Malaysia are at stake if the Malaysian Government does not take serious action against the owner of the Ranch.

__________________
european burmeses rock!

Yeah I heard about this matter about 3 weeks ago..........I think there still few more horses left at that time not sure how's the condition now.

Sigh! what a sad news

__________________
xxxxx Saribaiduri @ sedap nama tu aku suker xxxxx

Let's Stand Together And Celebrate Our Domestic Cats Day- 31/12/2008 !

Hopefully something can be done to save these horses

__________________
european burmeses rock!

I'm Sabahan lives in KL.I return back to KK last weekend and still in KK. This news is actually not true. The horses shown are the elderly horses and was sick due their age.

are they still using an old horses to do riding?

just curious...

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Good Read For Cat Lovers

stop breeding domestic cats | start spaying/neutering your cat(s)
stop supporting those breeders | start saving strays cat

Not sure but we know the handler well because most Sabahan know each other, so klu nak buat jahat kena fikir 2x.he!!he!!. My mum always terima berita kenakalan saya even before I reach home when I was little.You ask any Sabahan,they will say the same thing He is such a gentle guy and loves horses.So I don't believe it when I heard this.Decided to check it out myself. From what I understand,they also sell horses.Maybe the keep the old horses for own use.

with my greates sorrow, i read the 'dying to be rescued' article. I also agree with Chin that a fine of RM 200, whilst princely in the 1950’s when the law was introduced, is paltry by today’s standards. Unfortunately, we have no animal lovers in the cabinet that will listen to their plight and agony. This is so sad and heartrending. Hope these poor creatures will saved soon......

with my greates sorrow, i read the 'dying to be rescued' article. I also agree with Chin that a fine of RM 200, whilst princely in the 1950’s when the law was introduced, is paltry by today’s standards. Unfortunately, we have no animal lovers in the cabinet that will listen to their plight and agony. This is so sad and heartrending. Hope these poor creatures will be saved soon......

in a similar vien, i saw a really old skinny horse in UPM being used for riding. i was instantly irate and wanted to question the students. then my daughter ASKED the student some questions.

kiki: why is the horse so ugly?
student: because he has had a hard life. he was a racing horse when he was young.
kiki: what is he now?
student: still a horse but one that can relax and enjoy the company of people who don't want much from him. (she stroked him and the old swayback was so happy)
kiki: see mummy, you always ask me to hurry. i will be ugly too you know.

a lot of retired race horses are rescued from slaughter to become riding horses at resorts. let's make sure we know the full story before we condemn others. my friend who runs an elephant sanctuary also had bad press because they failed to care adequately for a baby elephant and he died in the end. but what the press failed to reliase is that they were all volunteers, exhausted from too much work and not enough resources.

we are only human, and we can only do or best. and that best depends on the circumstances, our health, our available resources.

__________________
Alicia Ling Horsley

Pet Epicure
We feed our pets PINK raw food
Feral Friend Malaysia


"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality."Dante

http://www.jphpk.gov.my/English/July07%209a.htm

and

http://www.visitmalaysiatourism.blogspot.com/


Shock condition of horses at Sabah ranch

Daily Express, 9 July 2007
Kuala Lumpur: Visitors to the Melinsung ranch of a former senior State Government official have lodged a complaint over the 50-odd horses which have not been given food and veterinary care for some time.

Briton Chris Jones, who was recently on holiday there, was shocked to see their condition and when he complained, he was told that the horses were hired from the ranch in Papar.

In an e-mail, on June 19 to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, he wrote:

"I visited the ranch and was disgusted at what I saw. I complained to the hotel, the turf club, the tourism office and a veterinary surgeon."

He wrote that everyone was well aware of it and was told nothing could be done as the horses were owned by a VIP.

"I then detailed the horrific conditions to the World Society for the Protection of Animals in Britain which got the same response from their counterpart in Malaysia."

Appealing for something to be done to help these animals, Jones wrote:

"No food apart from poor grazing when they are allowed out, no access to water. Horses held in barbed wire
protected stalls to prevent escape."

Melinsung Ranch is near the Melinsung beach on the Kota Kinabalu-Papar Coastal Highway. It used to provide riding lessons and hold equestrian events like the Endurance Race and Plantation Ride.

Jones also sought the help of his friend who managed to get in touch with the owner "who gave me excuses."

The matter was also highlighted by the Royal Society for the prevention of Cruelty to Animals which sent a letter to several authorities, including the Malaysian Equine Council, via e-mail, which was later forwarded to Weekend MAIL.

Its head of external affairs, David Bowles, wrote: "I've received a complaint on the condition of these horses which are not being fed or kept properly. They have no water, no feed and seem to have no veterinary care."

The Council's Executive secretary, Malik Jeremiah, said they had forwarded the e-mail to the Veterinary Services Department. "We don't have the power to take action," he said.

The Veterinary Services and Animal Industry Department in Sabah said a team of officers visited the ranch on June 26, soon after getting the information.
Its Deputy Director, Dr Amat Kasim, said the horses were in deprived condition due to lack of food.

"Most of them were thin but healthy. Only 10 of the 53 horses were in deplorable condition and they were old."

He said the horses were used for polo before the club was shut down.

"Since then, they have not been properly taken care of.”Due to financial constraints, the owner told me he couldn't afford to feed the horses or treat the sick ones as he was not getting any revenue after the shut-down.

"We visited the ranch daily to provide feed and hay, besides multivitamins for the horses. Some have lost their appetite but we are trying to help them by feeding multivitamins."

Asked if the two weeks of care had made a difference to the horses' condition, he said"

"It's too soon to tell. We'd need at least three months to notice any difference. "The horses are not sick, just thin due to lack of food and starvation."




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I don't know if people will ever be able to talk to animals the way Doctor Doolittle could, or whether animals will be able to talk back. Maybe science will have something to say about that. But I do know people can learn to "talk" to animals, and to hear what animals have to say, better than they do now