SANDAKAN: For animal welfare volunteers here, every dog that is neutered means fewer unwanted puppies being born onto the streets.
That was the significance behind a joint effort by the Sabah Veterinary Services Department (DVS) and SPCA Sandakan on Saturday (Sept 19), which saw 50 stray dogs spayed and neutered.
Sandakan SPCA secretary Gin Voo said more than 1,400 animals had been neutered by the organisation between June 2025 and August this year.
She said spaying and neutering remained a humane and sustainable way of reducing the number of unwanted animals on the streets.
“The assistance from Sabah DVS in performing 50 spay and neuter surgeries is a tremendous boost to our ongoing programme.
“We hope this collaboration will continue so that we can collectively bring down the number of unwanted animal offspring in Sandakan,” she said.
The dogs were assessed beforehand to ensure they were healthy and suitable for surgery.
The initiative was carried out under the “Program Potong Royong Haiwan Pembawa Rabies (HPR) Terbiar – Anjing”, which also promotes animal welfare and rabies prevention.
Sabah DVS provided the veterinary facilities, surgical procedures, sedation and medication, as well as programme documentation.
The Sandakan team was led by DVS veterinarians Dr Resya Soffiana Yassin and Dr Natalia Fitry Lyla Sabarudin.
Dr Azery Kamiring and Dr Uma Maheswary Kamalanathan Abdullah from Vet2Go Animal Clinic also assisted Sandakan SPCA in monitoring the procedures and the animals’ recovery.
Held in conjunction with Sabah DVS’ 50th anniversary, the programme targets 50 dogs in each participating region.
For Sandakan SPCA, each surgery represents one less cycle of unwanted litters — and, over time, fewer dogs left to survive on the streets.
