Editorial

National Animal Welfare Week

Positive Dog Training

Dog survives car accident, gunshot and freezer storage

National Animal Welfare Week

Prize giving ceremony of Inter school essay competition at MIPE 2003

The children wrote such good essays, the judges had a tough time deciding on the winners. Finally, Adrian Pravin Raj of SK La Salle Sentul 2, beat 80 other contestants to emerge the winner of the essay competition entitled “What My Pet Means to Me and My Family”.

Subana Keris Kerisnan of SK Bukit Damansara came in 2^nd, followed by Lee Jia Jun of SK Jalan Semenyih I, 3^rd, Kishore Ishnan Nair of SK Jalan Semenyih II, 4^th and Johan Akmal, of SK Bukit Damansara, 5^th.

There were also 10 consolation prize winners.

All the winners received cash, beginning with RM300 for the 1^st prize and ending with RM100 for the 5^th prize, while consolation prize winners each received RM50. Other prizes included trophies, hampers, complimentary subscriptions of Kuntum magazine and books.

The top 5 winners also read their essays to the audience to compete for the Best Presenter Challenge Trophy, courtesy of the organisers of MIPE 2003. The Challenge Trophy went to Subana Keris Kerisnan of SK Bukit Damansara.

The prize giving ceremony was officiated by Encik Yaacob bin Ibrahim, Director of Education, Dept. of Education, while on hand to give away the prizes was guest of honour, Yang Berbahagia Raja Datin Paduka Sri Zarina Raja Tan Sri Zainal.

The children especially enjoyed their tour of the pet expo with its rabbit ranch, exotic birds and fish and wild animal display by Zoo Negara.

This is what some of the children had to say about their pets:

Lee Jia Jun, 12, on his pet dog, Fluffy
Fluffy is regarded as part of the family. He is a playmate, errand dog, watchdog at night and my close friend and companion. I believe we should treat our pets with proper care and love. People who leave their pets unattended do not deserve to own a pet at all.

Sri Vijaya Ambiga, 12, on her pet goat, Dyiana
She is very special to our family and we love her very much. Animals have the right and freedom to live with us in this wonderful world. When we show our love to them, they too show their love to us.

Amy Phang, 10, on her pet cat, Mocca
He has given my family a lot of happiness. He is part of our family and we all love him very much.

Evan Lum, 10, on his pet rabbit, Potter
Although there is a lot of work taking care of pets, it is worth it. They make us laugh, help us to feel relaxed and we learn to love animals. Watching animal behaviour helps us to understand animals better.

Nur Aminah Liyana, 12, on her pet cat, Tompok
When Tompok fell ill we had to leave her in the clinic. Two days without Tompok made us feel very sad and we felt as if something was missing in our lives.

Theenesraja, 11, on his pet dog, Coco
Since Coco loves going for walks, you can’t say the word ‘walk’ and ‘leash’ around him. It seems as if Coco is a real human being sometimes

Seminar and Workshop on Canine Behaviour &Training
March 22 & 23, YWCA Kuala Lumpur

The two-day seminar and workshop conducted by Terry Ryan was attended by trainers, veterinarians, breeders and dog owners. Most of the participants we spoke to enjoyed the sessions, finding them informative and helpful.

It also provided a forum for the exchange of new ideas and problems encountered in training. The participants discussed and offered possible solutions based on their own experience with animals.