Pet owners moving out of Kamala

KAMALA: Pet owners have begun moving out of Kamala as poisonings of dogs and cats continue. One refugee is Andrew Scatter, whose 100,000-baht Weimaraner hunting dog, Gendolf, has been poisoned twice. Luckily, on each occasion Gendolf was taken to a vet in time for him to be treated, and he survived. But Mr Scatter says he has had enough and has moved from his Bang Hwarn home in Kamala to Chalong. “I wasn’t willing to take the chance of risking my dog’s life a third time,” he told the Gazette. “I’m glad I’m out of there,” Mr Scatter said, describing one incident in which a neighbor spat at him after first expressing delight at Gendolf’s ill-health. Other pets in Bang Hwarn have been less fortunate than Gendolf with suspicions that as many as six dogs have been poisoned there in recent months. Bill Graham, too, left the village after one of his dogs and a cat were poisoned. He has also moved to Chalong where he believes it is much safer for his remaining pets. Mr Graham said that Bang Hwarn’s remaining pet owners also plan to move as soon as they can. Kamnan Sa’ard Latala, a Muslim community leader in Kamala, insists that he wants to discuss the problem with pet-owners. “If they talk to me then I can find out who is doing the poisoning and we can sort it out,” Kamnan Sa’ard said. He went on to state that he has received no calls despite having his telephone number published in the Gazette. Mr Scatter said that he had in fact called Kamnan Sa’ard but that language difficulties prevented him from making any headway. “It’s too late now,” Mr Scatter said, “Some battles are not worth fighting.”