TWO Klang Royal City Council (MBDK) officers have been called in by police to give a statement regarding a stray dog called Rocky that died during a catching operation in Taman Teluk Gedung Indah in Port Klang, Selangor.
Klang mayor Datuk Abd Hamid Hussain said a total of 11 MBDK enforcement personnel were involved in the operation together with 50 residents of the neighbourhood at 8.30pm on July 29.
He said the operation complied with the standard operating procedures (SOP) issued by the Housing and Local Government Ministry.
"Based on the briefing from our officers, the operation followed the prescribed SOPs.
“We used approved methods such as catch poles (loops) and nets.
“The unfortunate incident happened during the capture of the 13th dog, when a woman who claimed to be the owner of the dog then had struggled to free it, but the tussle had caused the dog to be strangled,” he said when met at Bangunan SUK Selangor.
Abd Hamid said the city council worked with the area Rukun Tetangga and briefed everyone involved in the dog-catching exercise on the catching method.
“The operation was carried out following numerous complaints from residents about stray dogs in the neighbourhood, including an incident in which a motorcyclist was seriously injured after an accident allegedly involving a stray dog.
“The victim remains in the intensive care unit,” he said.
Hamid also dismissed claims that the operation was aimed at harming the animals, saying the exercise was carried out solely to address public safety concerns.
He said MBDK received around 50 complaints a month, many of them repeated complaints involving the same dogs at different locations
“MBDK sometimes faces criticism over delays in responding to stray dog complaints, but the council has limited manpower and has been unable to appoint private contractors to assist with dog-catching operations.
"No private company is willing to undertake stray dog capture work,” he said.
Abd Hamid said MBDK would await the outcome of the police investigation.
