Homing in on strays

THE issue of how animals, especially dogs, are treated in Malaysia was highlighted in a recent video on YouTube showing the Kajang Municipal Council’s (MPKj) inhumane dog-catching methods.

Malaysia Independent Animal Rescue (MIAR) president T. Puspa Rani, who uploaded the video and was present at the scene, said a worse fate awaits some of the dogs caught by local councils — being left in the trucks to starve for days without food or water.

She said this scenario was common in local councils without dog pounds.

“We are appealing to local councils to change the way they handle the strays when rounding them up,’’ she said.

Other than MPKj, other local councils without pounds are Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) and Shah Alam City Council (MBSA).

Following the incident, MPKJ councillor Steven Chan said they would be looking at their standard operating procedures on handling dogs.

Animal shelters and other canine welfare groups would be invited to give suggestions.

“I believe we need to educate the catchers on treating the dogs better and respond to public concerns,” he said.

Chan said MPKj would be opening its pound in Section 13, Bangi, this month. It will have six enclosures that can house 10 to 12 dogs each.

These dogs will be kept for a week before being euthanised, unless they are claimed by their owners or adopted.

“We are awaiting approval from the Planning Department,’’ he said, adding the building was not as large as they would have wanted because of a reduced budget.

MPKj public relations head Kamarul Izlan Sulaiman said the dogs were currently sent to enclosures set up in the Jalan Reko nursery in Bangi.

MPAJ public relations officer Norhayati Ahmad said the council conduct and exercise when they received complaints from the public and the loop-rope method was used to catch strays.

“We send the dogs to our panel of veterinarians, but we are looking for a suitable area to build a pound.

“The veterinarians will conduct tests to decide if the dogs are healthy. Those in poor health or too feral are put to sleep,” she said.

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Selangor public relations officer Pyo Ng said MPAJ used to send stray animals to them but have stopped doing this for several years.

MBPJ and MBSA send the dogs caught to Paws Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) to be looked after.

Among the local councils which have their own pounds are Selayang, Sepang and Subang Jaya.

Dog catchers at these councils use the loop-rope method and the dogs are cared for by their respective Health Departments.

A more humane method to catch the canines has been proposed, by using tranquiliser darts.

However, at approximately RM100 to RM200 per dart, this option has been deemed too costly.