100 brave morning rain at Parliament gates to demand 'Justice for Kopi'

Despite an early morning downpour, about 100 people arrived at the Parliament gates to hand over a memorandum demanding justice for stray animals.

The movement, dubbed “Justice for Kopi”, arrived at 10.30am holding placards and banners urging for legal reforms in handling stray animals while chanting “justice for Kopi” and “justice for all animals”.

About 40 police officers were present to manage traffic and the crowd.

Later, a delegation of MPs led by former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob arrived to receive the memorandum from the group.

Among the Pakatan Harapan MPs present were Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung, Batu MP P Prabakaran, Kampar MP Chong Zhemin, and Klang MP V Ganabatirau.

On Oct 13, the New Straits Times reported the Terengganu Veterinary Services Department (DVS) as receiving multiple public inquiries about a viral video alleging that a local council representative had shot a dog called Kopi.

The department said the case was being investigated under the Animal Welfare Act 2015.

On Oct 15, about 100 people gathered outside the Sentul police headquarters after a report was filed on the matter.

Three days later, nearly 300 people gathered outside the DVS headquarters in Putrajaya to deliver a memorandum, urging the agency to probe the matter.

Remove stray management from DVS

Global Human Rights Federation president S Sashi Kumar told reporters today that Parliament was the best avenue for animal rights groups to get their voices heard.

Touching on the memorandum, Shashi said it was to seek amendments to the Animal Welfare Act 2015 and advocate for humane and sustainable practices in stray animal management.

He also claimed that the DVS has failed to handle stray animals properly.

“We don’t want it (protection of strays) to be under DVS anymore. It has failed tremendously,” he said.

Stray Animal Feeders Malaysia (SAFM) president R Kalaivanan listed eight main demands as follows:

1. Immediate reform of the Animal Welfare Act

2. Mandate a national Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programme

3. Establish an independent animal welfare board

4. Transform local animal pounds into no-kill facilities

5. Limit euthanasia to severe medical cases

6. Ban inhumane capture methods and enforce humane SOPs

7. Strict regulation of animal breeders and mandatory licensing.

8. Enforce penalties for animal cruelty

Kalaivanan also urged the government to be transparent on claims of overpopulation of strays before executing any operations that might hurt these animals.

Echoing his fellow protesters, animal activist Syed Noah Barakbah urged all state muftis to do more in educating Muslims and avoid demonising innocent strays.

“Allah tells us to love all his creations, so why should we commit such cruelty towards these strays,” he said.

The group dispersed peacefully at 12.30pm.

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