A

leading local animal rights NGO urged the central government to issue a legislation on animal welfare to anticipate the spread of deadly diseases as well as to reduce the effects of global warming.

Yayasan Yudhistira Swarga operational manager, I Wayan Mudiarta, disclosed that the foundation has composed the rough draft of the legislation. Copies of the draft are now being distributed to government agencies, NGOs, experts and community leaders to elicit feedback.

"The distribution of the draft also aims at determining whether there is a real need for such legislation and how urgent that need is," Mudiarta said Friday.

"We don't want to create an impression that the legislation will serve the interests of a single NGO only," he added.

Founded ten years ago, Yudhistira Swarga is one of a few local NGOs working on improving the welfare of the island's street dogs. The foundation provides regular health services to stray and pet dogs at the island's rural areas.

The foundation's name was inspired by an episode in the Hindu's great epic Mahabharata. The episode narrates the journey of Yudhistira, the Prince of Virtues, to ascend the Himalayas and enter heaven. Yudhistira's wife and brothers fall one by one during the exhausting journey and by the time he arrived at the gates of heaven only a stray black dog still kept him company.

The foundation executive Wita Wahyu said the legislation is a necessary tool in coping with the emergence of various deadly diseases spread by animals.

"Lack of public awareness on animal welfare issues and the absence of humane treatment toward the animals will aggravate the spread of the disease," she stressed, citing the recent outbreak of rabies in the resort island as an example.

A large number of pet dog owners in the island had failed to cater for their pets' basic necessities; such as regular health examinations, including anti-rabies vaccines, good living quarters and a steady supply of food and water.

"Many underfed dogs end up scouring for food in public garbage dumps. There they have to compete for food against street dogs, thus increasing the possibility of contracting with rabies," she said.

"The fact that many pet dogs' owners don't leash or place their pets in cages and instead let them roam the streets has also played a critical factor in speeding the spread of rabies."

She said the legislation would also help regulate large-scale animal farms, one of the biggest contributors to climate change. Industrial-sized farms' contribute up to 18 percent to global warming.

"Cattle populations all over the world produce more than seven billion tons of carbon dioxide and other substances; methane, nitrogen, ammonia and sulfur, which aggravate the greenhouse effect."

Industrial-sized cattle farms have gained ground in the country and the government should monitor to its effect to the environment, she added.

"The government should immediately draft and issue a legislation that deals with animal welfare to regulate these massive farms."