Sabah animal shelter forced to move twice as rescue animals were poisoned

KOTA KINABALU – “People may not be able to imagine how we feel. We watched the dog that we nurtured back to life for months, died of poison overnight. This animal that we had cared and loved for months, we helplessly watched it die in pain.” 

This was what Diana Fransisca @ Dd Chan, founder of Animal Lovers Independent Rescuer (ALIR) told The Vibes when asked why they were shutting down their only remaining shelter in Kampung Lapasan, Tenghilan, Tamparuli.

She said that she had no choice but to close the shelter, which was only opened in 2019, as ALIR has been receiving complaints and threats from villagers in the area.

“We have been receiving various complaints from the villagers in Tenghilan; some claimed that our dogs had attacked their chicken, and some claimed to have been chased by dogs from the shelter.  

“It could not have been possible because our dogs are inside the shelter compound. However, this shows that certain villagers are uncomfortable with our presence here,” she said. 

Dd said that the situation had worsened recently, with an individual making death threats towards ALIR members, urging them to move out.  

She said she started worrying for the safety of ALIR’s staff and volunteers, including her own.

“We have no choice but to move away from this area,” she said.  

The Tenghilan shelter houses healthy cats and dogs that were formerly stray animals and were sick or injured. Before the pandemic, the shelter was opened to members of the public who wished to adopt a pet.  

Not the first time ALIR forced to shut  

The Tenghilan shelter was actually ALIR’s second shelter, with the first one having opened in Kota Belud in 2013.  

Similarly, the presence of the shelter there had made a minority of the nearby villagers unhappy, with some of them even shooting and poisoning several shelter dogs.

“We felt like our shelter was rejected by the community in the area in Kota Belud, so we closed the shelter in March 2020 and divided 60 dogs into seven foster homes that are run by ALIR volunteers who are experienced in caring for sick and injured animals,” she said.  

Dd added that about ten dogs in the ALIR shelter had been poisoned and three dogs had been shot with handmade guns by irresponsible people to date.

“We love our animals; they are like family to us. Other people may not know how much efforts we had put into to treat and care for these sick and injured animals until they became healthy again.  

“To see them die right in front of our eyes after they were poisoned was really heartbreaking,” she said.  

Dd said that ALIR had once come across an individual who had proudly admitted on a WhatsApp group that he had killed a dog in ALIR by feeding it poisoned bread.  

“We had lodged a police report on this, but no action had been taken against the perpetrator,” she noted.  

Dd said there have also been people abandoning their sick pets at the shelter’s entrance, and some even left dog carcasses for no apparent reason.  

Light at the end of the tunnel  

For ALIR, there is still a glimpse of hope as they await the construction of a mini shelter in Tebobon, Manggatal here to be completed.  

However, Dd said that the Tebobon shelter is small and only has the capacity for 150 cats and dogs, while ALIR currently has 200 animals under its care. 

“Therefore, we hope that kind families would adopt animals under our care that are healthy,” she added.  

When asked if she had a message for those who had harmed the animals under ALIR’s care, Dd said:  

“My message is simple; respecting animals makes us better humans, and it takes nothing away from us to be kind to animals.”  

Dd said ALIR does not hope for assistance from the government as they understand that the government has to spend a lot to help the people during this pandemic.  

“I just hope that all of us in ALIR will stay strong and keep going to continue our mission to help poor animals and protect our rescued animals no matter what,” she added.  

ALIR currently has 20 active volunteers across Sabah. Its Facebook page can be found here https://www.facebook.com/ALIRSABAH. – The Vibes, July 13, 2021