Council put down 1,181 stray dogs from January until May

JOHOR BARU: The Johor Baru Central Municipal Council (MPJBT) has put down a total of 1,181 dogs in the first five months of this year.

MPJBT president Sallehuddin Hassan said stray dogs causing a nuisance was one of the most common complaints received by the council.

“Up until May this year, we received a total of 313 complaints about stray dogs from people who said they posed a threat to their safety.

“In fact, we often get scolded by residents who question why we are not taking action, and if we are waiting for someone to be bitten before doing something,” he said.

The council has been under the spotlight following a video of its officials bludgeoning stray dogs to death at the back of a warehouse in Jalan Makmur, Skudai.

Sallehuddin said that there were also many instances where council officials were bitten or injured by the strays during their operations.

“It is a tough job that our enforcement team has volunteered to do, as catching dogs is not part of their official duties,” he said.

Sallehuddin said that in 2013, the council received 997 complaints on stray dogs and had put down 2,524.

“In 2012, we received 1,135 cases on stray dogs and put down 2,345 of them,” he said, adding that he was unsure of the method used to kill the dogs.

Sallehuddin said that the standard operating procedure used to capture and put the stray dogs to sleep would be reviewed and the job outsourced.