Updates from Padma
After the first article appeared on the subject in "The Island" few days back, written by Sagarika Rajakarunayake, today finally the Sunday Times shed light on the issue, not only reporting what animal-lovers have to say, but also the responses of the two vets, who are responsible for these surgeries in the name of research, leading to the death of one dog and making another one dependant on life-long treatment by removing the pancreas.
These responses speak for themselves, anyhow I want to add, that Prof. Rajapakse's field is parasitology and I cannot see for what he should possibly need a dog's pancreas and adrenal glands. Dr.Wasantha Kumara's "defense" is very poor, saying that kidneys disolve within two days after death is a joke, but his statement, that this is a case of jealousy is totally out of place, because first of all it was not the university clinic taking action, but KACPAW, the organisation, which was betrayed, and secondly my personal observation is, that the university clinic is always full of pet-owners seeking treatment for their pets, it has all kind of facilities such as x-ray, scanning, lab etc, which the government hospital does not have, and every time I pass that hospital (4 to 6 times a week) I see the waiting chairs empty.
Please read the article below and please contact me for the relevant e-mail and/or postal addresses if you wish to support our campaign to press the authorities to investigate this case and to take action
ISSN: 1391 - 05 31Sunday, June 10,
2007Vol. 42 - No 02News
KACPAW : Dogs taken for adoption, subjected to unethical surgery
By Marisa de Silva
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/070610/News/news9.html
Jekyll and Hyde horror in Colombo?
President, Sri Lanka Veterinary Council68, Getambe, Peradeniya Dear Sir
UNETHICAL AND INHUMANE VETERINARY PRACTICES
We wish to report to you that on 22 and 23 May 2007, Professor R.P.V.J. Rajapakshe, Head, Department of Veterinary Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science of the University of Peradeniya, adopted 3 dogs from our shelter for destitute dogs, saying that one dog is for his Gohagoda home and the other two for his wife’s home in Kiribathgoda. One dog was adopted on the 22nd and the other two on the 23rd.
We give away only healthy dogs for adoption and the three dogs Professor Rajapakshe took for adoption were in perfect health. They had been spayed and vaccinated against rabies, parvo virus and distemper. KACPAW is accountable for animal welfare to the many people here and overseas who support our work (see Annex 1). KACPAW’s primary concern is animal welfare and prevention of inhumane treatment and cruelty to animals. On 28 May 2007 we discovered to our horror that Professor Rajapakshe had not taken any of the dogs he adopted to his homes as he made us believe at the time of adoption, but instead taken them straight away to the Government Veterinary Hospital at Getambe, where extensive invasive surgery had been carried out on all three dogs on 22 May 2007 and 23 May 2007 instance by Dr. Wasantha Kumara, the Veterinary Surgeon who heads the Hospital.
We are shocked that a senior academic such as Professor Rajapakshe, working in one of the most prestigious higher education centers in Sri Lanka as a Head of a Department, training all of Sri Lanka's future veterinarians, had to resort to deceit to take away the dogs from us and subject them to extreme cruelty in such an unethical and inhumane manner. We are stupefied as to why these three healthy dogs needed emergency treatment and why Professor Rajapakshe took the dogs to the Government Veterinary Hospital at Getambe, paid more than Rs.10,000 to the Hospital, and had emergency surgery performed on them when he could have availed himself of the services of his own Faculty if indeed such surgery, amazing as it may be, was required.
What we witnessed on the morning of 28 May 2007 at the Government Veterinary Hospital, Getambe, was horrendous; in the name of surgery, all three perfectly healthy dogs had been cut open by Dr. Wasantha Kumara as follows:
§ One dog had both vertical and horizontal incisions across and down her abdomen which were sutured with nearly 30 sutures. This dog was opened up on the 22nd instance and, on the 28th, 5 days after this inhumanity, pus and blood was oozing from the incision. We understand that this dog had been opened up, probed for a long time and then stitched up.
§ The second dog apparently had its adrenal glands removed. This dog had died the next morning. She had been buried at the hospital premises.
§ The third dog apparently had its pancreas removed and had a huge incision down her abdomen. She had not eaten and could hardly stand up as she was very weak. Her fur was shaved almost up to the spine from both sides of her body and we witnessed cuts, lacerations, and small wounds on the shaved part of her body, obviously inflicted on her skin during shaving.
We took the two dogs that survived this ordeal back to our shelter and subsequently obtained treatment for them at the Clinic at the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Peradeniya.
We have now established that the third dog's pancreas has indeed been removed. Blood tests show high blood-sugar levels. Her front legs were so bruised she was given the drip intravenously from a hind leg. She was restless and totally traumatized. Her incision was infected. She is being given insulin. This dog will have to have life-long treatment. Did not Dr. Wasantha Kumara know what happens when the pancreas is removed? And why indeed was such a vital organ removed from a perfectly healthy dog?
The dog with nearly 30 sutures was treated for the infected incision. We exhumed the body of the dead dog on 28 May 2007 and a post mortem was conducted at the Veterinary Faculty on the 28th instance. The post mortem report should be available from the Faculty. This dog also had a huge incision down her abdomen. No trace of the kidneys was found amongst the decomposing contents of the abdominal cavity. A piece of cotton wool wrapped up in a large piece of gauze was found inside her sutured abdominal cavity. It is either possible that the cotton wool and the gauze were accidentally left inside or deliberately left in her sutured cavity as perhaps the veterinarians knew the dog would die without her kidneys. Had she lived even a few days or weeks, the foreign body would have caused complications and eventual death on a later day. We are now concerned about the possibility of foreign objects being left behind in the abdominal cavities of the other two dogs Dr. Wasantha Kumara operated on.
The horror that has unfolded before us is indescribable. We and everyone else who hear about this inhumane and unethical act of these two veterinarians in two prestigious and highly respected institutions of this country are numb with shock and disgust. Professor Rajapakshe and Dr. Wasantha Kumara have observed no ethical standards which they are required to adopt in their profession. The entire act reeks of deceit and cruelty, even wanton destruction of perfectly healthy dogs.
We are shocked that Dr. Wasantha Kumara has indeed agreed to carry out such surgery, leading to extreme suffering of the three dogs. Dr. Wasantha Kumara is also a Director of Pets V Care, a private veterinary clinic in Colombo. In the absence of any other reason to have subjected three perfectly healthy dogs to such extensive invasive surgery in which organs have been removed, we have every reason to believe that these surgeries involved unethical and inhumane research and was conducted primarily to remove organs from the three dogs. The deceitful behaviour of Professor Rajapakshe with regard to obtaining the dogs from us and the actual facts surrounding these surgeries lend further evidence towards adopting the view that the surgery was carried out solely to remove the organs. We understand that Professor Rajapakshe had apparently exported 200 kidneys some time ago. If there is any truth in this, then how he got such a vast quantity of body parts and why should be investigated. A foreigner from Bangladesh had been allegedly associated with Professor Rajapakshe in this particular act involving KACPAW’s dogs. Perhaps the organs were removed to be given to this foreigner and whatever research was carried out for him, who is supposed to have left the country now. All of the above should be investigated to establish the veracity as this constitutes serious violations of the country’s laws to talk nothing of issues such as bioethics, cruelty to animals, and animal rights. Whether there is a thriving racket going on with regard to export of dog organs too should be investigated forthwith, perhaps via the CID and INTERPOL.
Lies, deceit and surreptitious behaviour abound in connection with this wantonly inhumane act and the credibility of both veterinary surgeons is at stake. Professor Rajapakshe had made contradictory statements and provided false information. For example, at the Peradeniya Police Station, where we lodged a complaint on 28 May 2007, Professor Rajapakshe said the surgery was carried out to do hysterectomies. To the Dean of the Veterinary Faculty he had said that the surgery involved removal of the spleens and admitted to the Dean that he had lied to KACPAW when he took the dogs. Indeed if surgery was carried out to remove the spleens, Professor Rajapakshe owes an explanation as to why he had the spleens removed under emergency surgery. However, Professor Rajapakshe had lied in this instance to the Dean of the Faculty as it has been established through scanning that both dogs that survived surgery had their spleens intact. He also said the dog that died, did so soon after surgery, whereas, she had actually died the next morning, obviously after much suffering. Perhaps he did not know when she died as he had not apparently visited the Hospital to check on the dogs after surgery. He was clearly not interested in the post-operative care of the dogs as his main interest seems to lie in obtaining organs from these dogs.
When KACPPAW asked Dr. Wasantha Kumara as to why he conducted such extensively invasive surgery on the three dogs, he repeatedly said that he did not know they were KACPAW dogs. We are amazed that differing standards are adopted for various dogs. Dr. Wasantha Kumara refused to divulge the nature of the surgery done on the two surviving dogs when he was asked by the Dean of the Veterinary Faculty on 29 May 2007 to provide the information which was crucial to treat the two dogs in their care now. In this instance, Dr. Wasantha Kumara totally disregarded the welfare of those animals, which were in perfect health prior to his surgical interventions. We were compelled, therefore, to request the Hon. Governor of the Central Province, Tikiri Kobbekaduwa, to intervene in this and the Dean of the Veterinary Faculty specifically requested the Governor to ask Dr. Wasantha Kumara to provide this crucial information to the clinicians of the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Peradeniya who were primarily concerned about diagnosing the causes and treating the sick dogs in their care.
We understand that the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science of the University of Peradeniya was unaware of the “research” carried out by Professor Rajapakshe and we firmly believe that the Faculty, an institute concerned with welfare and clinical care of all animals and one which primarily educates, trains and produces all the veterinary surgeons of the country in the humane care of all animals, would have certainly stopped Professor Rajapakshe from committing these atrocities against animals. If indeed Professor Rajapakshe had the surgeries carried out in connection with some research and with the primary intention of removing certain organs, then it calls for immediate attention towards the strengthening of bioethics in research carried out within the discipline of veterinary science.
We request you to kindly investigate whether dog organs are being exported as alleged. If indeed as has been alleged, Professor Rajapakshe has exported 200 kidneys, please investigate from where he obtained this large quantity of organs and the legal implications, if any. Did he take the easy way out this time by deceitfully taking three dogs from our shelter to commit these atrocities against these innocent unsuspecting, trusting animals? It is also pertinent to note that this cruel act has been committed by two veterinarians, who we believe are at least by their profession expected to be mindful of animal welfare issues and practices and maintain the highest ethical standards in treating animals at a time when the President of the Sri Lanka, His Excellency Mahinda Rajapakse, had declared a no-kill policy on dogs under his concept of governance Mahinda Chinthanaya, which unprecedented act has been lauded by all civilized people. In fact inspired by the promulgation of this policy, KACPAW has conducted a pilot study to find a practical, cost-effective, replicable and sustainable humane programme to control dog populations with clear long-term benefits and we believe we have found one. In our project report, one of the major proposals we have recommended to the Government is the recruitment of veterinary surgeons to the health sector, promoting veterinarians of this country.
We urgently request a full inquiry into the above-described activities of Professor Rajapakshe and Dr. Wasantha Kumara to determine whether such action has violated ethical and humane practices of their profession. If so, we appeal to you to take appropriate action against them in order to prevent them from repeating such unethical, inhumane acts against innocent animals. We would also request that the SLVC investigate and let us know
why Professor Rajapakshe deceitfully took dogs from KACPAW’s shelter
why such extensively invasive emergency surgeries were carried out,
whether the adrenal glands of one dog were removed and if so why,
what organs other than the pancreas were removed and why,
why one dog died,
what happened to the pancreas that was removed and any other allegedly removed organ/s, and
whether a foreigner from Bangladesh was associated with this work, and if so, what his role and mission were.
On 28 May 2007, we requested in writing from the Dean of the Veterinary Faculty to investigate Professor Rajapkshe’s conduct and we believe such an inquiry will be held soon.
We have enclosed a CD with photographs that would provide evidence of the atrocities perpetrated on the three dogs.
Thank you
Yours faithfully
President, KACPAW Secretary, KACPAW
cc His Excellency the President
Hon. Governor of the Central Province
Hon. Minister of Livestock and Agriculture
Hon. Minister of Higher Education
Hon. Minister of Health and Nutrition
Chairman, University Grants Commission
Director General, Department of Animal Production and Health
Director, Veterinary Research Institute
Vice-Chancellor, University of Peradeniya
Dean, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of
Peradeniya
Head Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University
of Peradeniya
President, Sri Lanka Veterinary Association
Chairperson, Law Commission of Sri Lanka
President, National Science Foundation
President, National Research Council
Director, CARP
Local and International Animal Welfare Organizations and Leading Animal
Welfarists
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), UK
World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), UK
NB
The enclosed book is a report of the pilot project mentioned above. We hope to formally present these findings and our proposals to His Excellency the President. In our proposal to recruit veterinary surgeons to the health sector, we have insisted upon the need to maintain high ethical and surgical standards in spaying / neutering of dogs. We have already made our presentation at a meeting of the Health Development Council of the Ministry of Health in March 2007, which was well received. At this meeting, the need for veterinary surgeons in the health sector was recognized by the top health authorities, not only to combat rabies and rising dog populations, but diseases like Bird Flu.
KACPAW has had discussions with the Hon. Governor of the Central Province to work towards establishing the proposed spay programmes in the Province. The Hon. Governor would convene a meeting in June 2007 with the Province’s relevant officials to discuss this programme.
At the provincial level we presented our findings at the meeting of the Central Province’s Steering Committee on Health, which was arranged for us by the Provincial Director of Health. Here too our presentation was well received.
