LETTERS: I refer to an article, "Dogs a menace in Klang park", and cannot stress enough that dogs, like every other living being, just want to live.
It is shocking that a mere bark elicits a need to have them destroyed. This insensitivity towards other living beings is a sin.
My suggestion is for the Klang Municipal Council (MPK) to start a sustainable solution together with the relevant non-governmental organisations such as trap, neuter and release strays.
The population will be kept in check and hopefully, the "sensitivities" of humans will not be affected.
I myself have been barked at on numerous occasions by strays. But that's all they do: bark.
They won't bite unless antagonised and more often than not, it is the baboonery of humans (throwing stones and sticks, screaming and shouting unnecessarily) that elicits a fear-response in the dogs and therefore, an attack.
Lest anyone think that stray dogs do not play a role in the ecosystem, one need only look at the Black Plague of 1665 (London). The mayor of London, in a mistaken belief that dogs and cats caused the plague, ordered that they be destroyed.
This worsened the situation considerably as dogs and cats were the only animals keeping the true vector of the plague (rats and the plague fleas feeding on rats) in check.
Let the dogs enjoy the sunshine and the park, much like you do.
Do also unto others (animals included) as you would yourself.
GAVIN JAYAPAL
Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times