LETTERS: The mass deaths of stray dogs in Island Glades and Tanjung Bungah in April and July have rattled dog lovers in Penang.
In the first incident, 29 stray dogs died over the course of a few weeks in Island Glades. Plastic bags of food and containers of water were found nearby, and residents suspected poisoning.
A few birds were also found dead near the remains of the dogs. But the Penang Department of Veterinary Services (PDVS) found no evidence of poisoning.
Subsequently, the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) installed closed-circuit television cameras to catch the alleged dog killer, but no suspicious footage has emerged.
In the second incident in July, 27 stray dogs died over a few weeks in Tanjung Bungah. Plastic bags of food and containers of water were also found nearby. Tests by the Chemistry Department found no traces of poison.
Still, the Tanjung Bungah Residents Association insisted that the dogs were poisoned. Two pet dog deaths in the locality were also blamed on the unidentified dog killer.
The first was a Siberian Husky, said to have "sniffed" and "licked" the grass in the neighbourhood. The second was a Belgian Malinois, which convulsed violently and died after sniffing and licking the grass in the same neighbourhood.
PDVS then collected grass and soil samples in the area but, once again, the test results were negative. PDVS could not conduct autopsies on the pet dogs because the owners had cremated them.
I would like to propose another possible cause of the deaths from a previous heartrending experience — canine parvovirus (PVC).
Some time ago, my teenage daughters had an English Cocker Spaniel fed exclusively on premium dog kibble and it was trained never to eat discarded food.
One day, the dog suddenly lost its appetite, refused to eat and became lethargic, followed by bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea before convulsing violently.
I sent the dog to a veterinarian's clinic. The vet noticed the dog's runny and bloody stool and suspected PVC, but needed to test the faecal matter to confirm.
The following morning, the vet informed me that the dog had died.
The test on the faecal matter confirmed that the cause of death was PVC and that it would be best to cremate the carcass because the virus is highly contagious and has a fatality rate of over 50 per cent in unvaccinated dogs.
He told me that if only I had the dog vaccinated against the virus, the vaccine would have given it a high degree of protection.
PVC is highly contagious because it is present in the fluid discharge of infected dogs, especially their faeces.
Dogs are territorial animals and instinctively smell the faeces of other dogs to check for territorial intrusions.
They can inhale the virus this way.
To stop the spread of the virus, it is best to vaccinate dogs against PVC, a course of action that MBPP should consider under its trap, neuter and release programme.
My theory is the mass dog deaths were caused by PVC. But what about the dead birds? PVC is species-specific and, thus, does not affect birds. It is possible that the birds could have died from bird flu, which is endemic in isolated populations.
LOO SENG PIEW
Penang
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times