Kuala Lumpur - Animal welfare groups set out to try and rescue hundreds of starving dogs which were dumped on a deserted Malaysian island, a news report said Thursday. Some 300 dogs were caught at a fishing village on Pulau Ketam, an island off the central state of Selangor last month and sent to a deserted island nearby after villagers complained that their numbers were growing too fast and the dogs posed a danger to young children on the island.
However, animal activists found that the dogs, which had no means of finding food on the mangrove-covered island, have been forced to eat the carcasses of ones that had died.
Some of the dogs have also attempted to swim back to Pulau Ketam, resulting in many of them drowning, the Star online news portal reported.
Animal groups have so far rescued two dogs, with many others making a beeline to the island to try and rescue the starving canines.
However, efforts to save the dogs have been slow because many were fearful of people and scampered into mangrove swamps when rescuers approached, said Sabrina Yeap, founding director of Furry Friends Farm, an animal sanctuary.
"The dogs are fearful of people after the ordeal they had been put through, so they go into hiding when they sense human presence near the island," she said.
