300 dogs dumped on Malaysian isles turn cannibal

04:02 PM May 08, 2009

KUALA LUMPUR - More than 300 stray dogs dumped on Malaysia’s isolated islands turned to cannibalism after weeks of starvation, animal welfare activists said yesterday.

The plight of the dogs cast away by villagers on two small, uninhabited islands off Selangor ignited outrage after activists this week released photographs showing dogs eating the carcasses of ones that had died.

Residents of a fishing village on Pulau Ketam, another island off Selangor, caught the dogs last month and took them to the islands covered in mangroves. The villagers said they never intended to be cruel - they believed the dogs could feed on the deserted islands’ wildlife - but wanted to rid their island of dogs that defecate on the streets and sometimes bite children.

A team from the Selangor Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals visited one of the islands, Pulau Selat Kering, on Monday. It said in a statement that emaciated dogs “were hungrily feasting on the remains of another dog”.

The organisation’s volunteers have so far rescued two dogs and left food for the others. They estimate 200 might have survived. Activists will also try to rescue any dogs left on the other island, Pulau Tengah. AP

From TODAY, World – Friday, 08-May-2009