‘Dog Whisperer’s’ apprentice says sorry for distress after pet slapped
By May Robertson
The Malay Mail Online1 January 2018
Founder of Malaysia Dog Training, C Samy Velu Chandrasagaran and his senior trainer, Sulochini Unni Narayanan playing with the dogs during an interview at Malaysia Dog Training Centre in Puchong, December 31, 2017. — Picture by Miera ZulyanaMore
PUCHONG, Jan 1 — Samy Velu Chandrasagaran wants animal lovers to know he is deeply sorry for any distress they felt after watching a video of a pet dog being hit at his canine training centre recently.
However, the local dog trainer and apprentice to US celebrity “Dog Whisperer” Cesar Millan does not believe that the slap administered by former trainees at his Malaysia Dog Training Centre amounted to physical abuse of an animal as described by some critics.
“I want to apologise to all animal and dog lovers for the videos, although I was not involved it still happened on my premises,” the man who was one of the eight finalists in the reality animal TV show Cesar’s Rescue: Asia told the Malay Mail in an interview here yesterday.
Samy Velu came under fire after two videos showing the rough handling by two of his former trainees while teaching obedience to a pet dog was posted on the Facebook page of the Malaysia Independent Animal Rescue Facebook page on December 28.
The first video showed a woman hitting a dog during obedience training while the other video showed a man lifting another dog by the back its neck to pry away a bone the animal was biting.
Samy Velu maintained he is unaware that such rough methods were being employed in his training centre and believed it may be the doing of people “who harbour resentment towards me”.
He related that the two people in the videos had come into his training centre to learn about dog training but he had deemed them “unfit” to be canine trainers and instead offered them administrative positions.
“I now know this was a big mistake,” Samy Velu said.
Despite that, he maintains that the duo’s actions in the video do not constitute animal abuse but showed two confused people who were unsuitable to be dog trainers.
“I cannot say it was physical abuse. The holding of the dog’s scruff is done sometimes to simulate what a mother dog would do to its pup but it depends on the situation.
“The woman was wrong to have slapped the dog. This is never the way and I do not condone such behaviour,” Samy Velu said.
He added that legal action will be taken against the two former trainees at his training centre after the Department of Veterinary Services completes its investigation.
