The saddest news of the day

April 28, 2008 in Personal Reflections

This has to be the saddest news of the year…

Animals, birds and fish perish in pet shop fire

MUAR: Dogs, cats, rabbits, ornamental fish and birds, including exotic parrot species perished when fire razed a pet shop here.

The blaze at the Huah Pets shop, located along Jalan Khalidi, started at about 1.55am, probably caused by a short circuit.

Shop owner Tan Bing Huat said he could not determine the number of animals, birds and fish inside the shop but believed they totalled about 6,000.

He said most of the birds killed in the fire were doves of the merbuk and tekukur species but there were also three exotic parrots which cost RM2,000 each, adding that, he had yet to determine the total loss.

He said the fire spread very fast and within 10 minutes had engulfed the whole shop, which began operation about seven years ago.

A team of firemen from the Muar Fire Services and Rescue Department managed to put the fire under control in about 20 minutes.

Source: The Star

To say that I am terribly upset would be a gross understatement! If there are two issues that I care the most about, it would be children’s issues and animal rights. Both are God’s gifts to mankind, and we humans who have been charged by God to protect and love all creations of God have responsibilities to fulfill.

6,000 animals!!! 6,000 animals perishing in one day! It’s no wonder it was raining so heavily the past hour. God is weeping and mourning for the unnecessary loss of His beautiful creations…

3 Replies

  1. soraandtidus

    May 1, 2008 at 6:02 pm

    That is indeed a sad story. I have to wonder if the shop had any fire suppression mechanism at all. Sprinkler systems are required in all businesses here in the States; I’d bet many of those animals, perhaps all of them, would have been spared had sprinklers been installed.

    I’m a cat person myself, so this hits pretty close to home. I can’t help but wonder about where the shop owner stands on this. I wonder if he cared at all about the animals in his shop; he seems more concerned about their monetary value than their lives. 6,000 animals? Someone with that many animals in one shop probably considers their animals to be commodities rather than pets. Very saddening.

    Prayer of Saint Francis for Animals

    God Our Heavenly Father,
    You created the world
    to serve humanity’s needs
    and to lead them to You.
    By our own fault
    we have lost the beautiful relationship
    which we once had with all your creation.
    Help us to see
    that by restoring our relationship with You
    we will also restore it
    with all Your creation.
    Give us the grace
    to see all animals as gifts from You
    and to treat them with respect
    for they are Your creation.

    We pray for all animals
    who are suffering as a result of our neglect.
    May the order You originally established
    be once again restored to the whole world
    through the intercession of the Glorious Virgin Mary,
    the prayers of Saint Francis
    and the merits of Your Son,
    Our Lord Jesus Christ
    Who lives and reigns with You
    now and forever. Amen.
    –St. Francis of Assisi

    Reply
  2. MISHUGINA

    May 6, 2008 at 12:18 pm

    You’ve gotta be kidding. The saddest news for me yet is a typhoon killing 10,000 lives in a SINGLE Myammar village.

    And speaking of man-made heartwrenching news, the Austrian incest case tops it all.

    Reply
  3. soraandtidus

    May 10, 2008 at 12:02 am

    MISHUGINA, on May 6th, 2008 at 12:18 pm Said:

    “You’ve gotta be kidding. The saddest news for me yet is a typhoon killing 10,000 lives in a SINGLE Myammar village.

    And speaking of man-made heartwrenching news, the Austrian incest case tops it all.”
    - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
    I’ll not disagree with you, Mishugina, these are indeed sad , tragic events, but in EW’s defense, the pet shop incident occurred before the typhoon struck, and the full details of the incest case took several days to emerge. I believe that EW feels just as much sympathy as you about these terrible events, but *at the time*, I’m sure that EW, in his opinion, felt that the pet shop incident was the saddest news thus far this year, as did I.

    Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and I know that if we search long and hard enough we could find could find much worse news. However, wouldn’t it be better to search out the good and uplifting news than to concentrate on the bad news and debate whose is worse?

    Reply

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