Date: 2ndOctober2011 (Sunday)
Time: 6.30am to 2.00pm
Venue: Bukit Ekspo, UPM
Time: 6.30am to 2.00pm
Venue: Bukit Ekspo, UPM
Theme: “Doggies in Wonderland”
MAIN EVENT
♥ RACE OF THE WONDERLAND
“Quick! Get through the magical Wonderland as fast as you can!”
The most awaited event of DOGATHONTM, the race of both master and dog. A 2.6km run around the tranquil Bukit Ekspo with your furry best friend. This exciting race is specially designed with obstacles along the track to challenge the bond between you and your dog. Finish it as fast as you can to win great prizes! Remember, all dogs must be on leash at all times.
MAIN STAGE EVENT
♥ FASTEST EATING DUO
“How good are you at multitasking?”
A challenging activity where participants have to do two things simultaneously – to gobble up all the food given and complete a special hand task. Also, dogs will have to finish up their own food in order to win the game.
♥ HATTER’S TEA TIME (NEW!)
“Its tea time in Wonderland! Pinkies up, let’s drink some tea!’’Who loves a cup of tea more than the Mad Hatter himself? Join the Mad Hatter’s eccentric tea party by making enough tea using the provided ingredients. Be the fastest duo to win fantastic prizes!
♥ HAIL THE RED QUEEN! (NEW!)
“Reveal the Evil Red Queen before you lose your head!”
Quick! Assemble the jumbled up puzzle pieces to complete the features of the Evil Red Queen before you lose your head! Be the fastest one and win great prizes.
♥ ROUND THE RABBIT HOLE
“Experience musical chairs in Wonderland”
A game of musical chairs for you and your dog both! Participants go around the chairs and grab the seats when the music stops, BUT, watch out, because it’s either you, or your dog! If it’s you grabbing the seat, you have to wear a pair of rabbit ears too. Be aware of the signboard displayed on the playground before grabbing a seat and stand a chance to win fabulous prizes!
ON-GOING EVENT
MASTER HUNT
“A maze filled with obstacles and distractions! Ever wondered how fast your dog can go through it?”
Challenge your dog to find you through a whimsical maze within 2 minutes. Obstacles and distractions are placed along the way to test your dog’s capabilities. Be one of the fastest to bring home attractive
prizes from our sponsor!
♥ CATCH N FETCH
“Where’s my ball?”
In this classic game of fetch, your dog has to fetch the ball and return it to you within a certain time frame to win prizes from our sponsors!
♥ HIDE N SEEK!
“Let your dog’s sixth sense find you”
Hide in one of our hiding places and see how fast your dog can find you! With volunteers on hand to distract your dog, your dog has to find you within 15 seconds to win the challenge and grab our great
prizes.
♥ ALICES’ PLAYGROUND
“Experience the fun and adventure of the Wonderland!”
Our theme park specially designed for you! 8 exciting games in our theme park will bring fun and pleasure to you, your family and friends. Age is no constraint; everyone can play to win great prizes!
♥ DOGGIES PAW-PAW
“Painting memories…”
Here is the chance for you and your dog to embalm your memories at DOGATHONTM 2011. Sign your attendance by printing your palms together with your dog’s paws onto our specially designed
papers and cloth, which will be displayed at our event! You may also bring home your own creative printings on the A4-sized papers. Each participant will get a souvenir from our sponsor.
For more enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact:
- Ms Nur Afiqah Mohamaddiah (+60133792124)
- Ms Lee Yee Cheng (+60123205065)
- dogathonpublicity@gmail.com
- Mr Kavindaran Krisnasamy (+60172503272)
- Ms Lya Hoklai (+60178011237)
- VETERNAK/DOGATHONTM (Fax no. 03-8946 8333)
- EMAIL: dogathon@vet.upm.edu.my
About Dogathon
DOGATHONTM 2011, now in its 15th year, is the biggest annual event organized by the VETERNAK and ZoologicoTM Club of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, UPM. This event is the biggest dog gathering in Malaysia and is a promised fun-filled day to all visitors.
DOGATHONTM 2011 is a charity drive with a mission to raise funds to aid the “Stray Animal Awareness” program, and to assist the annual PROKASIH program. PRO-KASIH is a stray animal neutering project aimed at controlling the population of strays in a humane way. The history of DogathonTM started back in 1997 as a platform in addressing the issue of “Stray Dog Awareness”. It is one of the best ways, where the society and the animals could, either directly or indirectly play a part in addressing this issue. PRO-KASIH is currently involved in neutering stray cats in UPM and
outreach programs in several schools.
With a vital mission, Dogathon™ gives exposure to all breeds of dogs and their owners. Furthermore, they can also indulge in fun activities that have been stored for them, at same time being educated. Other than that, there will be stores selling a variety of pet-related products. This year, there will
exciting games waiting to surprise the participants, both four legged and two legged on that day.
The main highlight of this event is the ‘DogathonTM Race’ where dogs and owners are required to run side by side for about 2.5 km in the cool early morning under the shady trees of UPM. This event has never failed to become a favourite to everyone who had attended Dogathon™ before.
Every year, great games and activities for both dogs and owners have been a hallmark of each dogathon TM edition. Last year, DogathonTM 2010 had successfully broke the record which was “THE BIGGEST DOG GATHERING IN MALAYSIA” in the MALAYSIA BOOK OF RECORDS by gathering a total number of 1111dogs!!!
About Prokasih
Fresh, entertaining, and fun! DOGATHONTM, an annual dog event organized by students of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), promises all. It is a fun-filled day with games and activities galore for both dog and owner, young and old, in the vast expanse of a serene park. Last year, DOGATHONTM managed to reach a participation of 1111 dogs and 888 owners endorsed by the Malaysia Book of Records as The Largest Gathering of Canines! However, many may not know that the main reason behind this popular dog event is to raise funds for ProKasih.
ProKasih, the abbreviation for ‘Projek Pengkasian Haiwan Terbiar’ or Stray Animal Neutering Project, is a project jointly organized by the student club (Veternak-Zoologico Club) of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, the Faculty members and UPM. Now at its sixth year, the aims of ProKasih are to raise awareness of the public about our collective responsibility for these neglected animals and to contribute the control of stray animals within the campus and its vicinity.
Stray animals are considered a nuisance to society, but we forget that they exist as a result of our collective neglect as humans – we all need to take responsibility for our neglect of their needs, which are - to be accepted and integrated into our ecosystem, proper nutrition, freedom from disease and freedom from persecution. As the humans who are responsible for their domestication thousands of years ago, it is in our power to give them the one thing they cannot manage for themselves – birth control. Yes, their presence contributes to disease transmission to our pets, but they cannot help themselves nor can they help being in the poor state they are in. As responsible members of society, we must re-assume the role of protectors of these neglected beings who have for thousands of years given up life in the wild to be domesticated for the joy of human companionship for it has been said:
“If you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life”
Yet, these animals who have sacrificed their original nature for humans have been forgotten by their domesticators. As was said so rightly by the fox in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s , ‘The Little Prince’
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed"
As responsible humans, we must bring meaning to the lives of these animals that we have tamed by returning their worth and acceptance in the eyes of society. Realising that the key to solving the stray problem lies in the mindset of the Malaysian public, ProKasih channels its efforts into promoting public awareness of the importance of neutering, the plight of strays and responsible pet ownership. ProKasih promotes the “catch, neuter and release‟ method as a humane way to control the stray population. Beginning with the stray cat population within the campus of UPM, a census is taken of stray cats.They are then caught, neutered, cared for while they recuperate and heal, and released back to their original environment.
ProKasih hopes to promote awareness to create quality living not only for animals but also for humankind, whose lives are undeniably intertwined with the lives of animals, one way or another. Such an ideal would be impossible if we do not each play our role and come together consciously to make it a reality.
So, to sum it all up:
What is Pro-Kasih?
The PRO-KASIH program was initiated by veterinary students with the goals of improving the welfare of free-roaming/stray cats and dogs. The program has small beginnings with the focus on the strays within the University but hopes to expand in future to include more areas in the vicinity.
Who is involved?
The veterinary students and veterinary student clubs (VETERNAK and Zoologico Club), with supervision from Faculty staff, and assistance from the UPM veterinary alumni fraternity.
What is the plan?
The program comprises a three-pronged plan, which will be executed by the concerted efforts of students, staff of the Faculty and the Veterinary Alumni.
The first prong
The students will play an active role in creating awareness/educating/informing the public on how they can help towards keeping population of this group of animals in check and improving the welfare of those in their community. This is done through talks, questionnaires, and information booths set up at exhibitions.
The second prong
To help keep the population in check, there is a need to know how many strays there are so that effective measures can be taken to reduce the populations. The students play a role in surveying the strays such as collecting information on numbers, their condition, where they are in larger numbers, what time to the day they are visible. Such information from repeated and timely surveys will be needed to effectively monitor the success of the program.
The third prong
The sterilization of strays by professionals under a ‘catch-neuter and release when they are deemed well', will help in reducing their numbers in future. The catch-neuter-release program aims not only to reduce the number of strays suffering in the streets by neutering existing strays and releasing them. With the help of the community, these animals will be able to live out their natural lives.
However, when it comes to sterilisation programs, realistically, the number of surgical sterilizations required to have an impact on the population is far greater than can be achieved for now, due to the sheer numbers or strays we have, and the propensity for strays to reproduce.
However, with the increased awareness of public as to how they can play a more responsible role in ensuring that their own pets are well cared for and how important it is that indiscriminate or careless accidental breeding doesn't occur ie. having their own pets sterilized, so that there aren't additions to strays, it will be easier.
Aims of neutering strays are to:
- reduce the number of stray animals by preventing more breeding
- prevent re-colonisation by other unneutered strays because returning these strays (after neutering) to their original environment will place a population pressure that prevents new strays from coming into the area
- Reduce the stress of unwanted pregnancies and reduce transmission of diseases as these animals will not only be neutered but will also be vaccinated.
- Indirectly reduce the nuisance caused by strays
What has been done so far? And how will the contributions be used?
2006
The project started as a pioneer project on 2006 which was held on Tun Perak College, UPM. The project brings in 4 phases;
• Campaign, educational booth and talk for the college residence
• Stray animal enumeration,
• Catch, neuter and release of the strays
• Regular check-ups and surveys of the neutered animals
2007
Following success of the pioneer project, the program was carried on for the second term in 2007 where this time, it was held in Tun Dr. Ismail College, Fifth College and Sixth College, UPM.
2008
Similar work was organised in the year 2008, with increasing numbers of cats sterilized this time. We also set up a booth in Jaya Jusco Equine to educate the public and to promote the awareness on the issues of stray animals. An educational programme was also held at the nearby Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sri Serdang.
2009
Awareness programs were organised in 2009 which aimed to improve the status of strays in campus and focus on promoting Pro-Kasih. Informative booklets on stray issues were published. The awareness programs, enumeration, educational and sterilization efforts were a great start in ensuring that Prokasih first- pronged plan was put into effect.
2010
In the year 2010, Prokasih continued to focus more actively on reaching out to the public. A school education at SMK Jalan 4, Bandar Baru Bangi was held on 7th July 2010 in collaboration with Prokasih. The aim of the event was to create awareness amongst young people about responsible pet ownership, the concept of neutering and stray issues. An interactive discussion was carried out between veterinary students and Prokasih. Enumeration of cats at Colleges 17, 11 and 10 were carried out with the concerted efforts of Prokasih committee members and the volunteers. Catch, neuter and release of cats was carried out in College 17 as Prokasih hopes to make College 17 a shining example of successful stray control.
2011
This year, Prokasih continues to organize educational events. In January, ‘Minggu Mesra Haiwan’ was organized at College17 in collaboration with the management of the college. A positive feedback was received by Prokasih and the management looks forward to holding more of such collaborated events with Prokasih in the coming years. Promotion of Prokasih activities amongst junior veterinary students was carried out to foster active participation of the juniors as this is crucial for ensuring continuity of our Prokasih efforts. In April, a school education program will be held at SMK Sri Puteri, Cyberjaya. Enumeration at College 17 will be organised throughout this year to study the patterns of strays populations at College 17 and to evaluate effectiveness of our program.
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