Provide financial aid to manage strays, animal welfare group tells govt
Proper support for shelters will also lead to more humane treatment of the animals, thereby reducing the incidence of dog attacks, Fauziah Paws says.
PETALING JAYA: Animal welfare group Fauziah Paws has urged the government to take responsibility for managing the stray animal population in a humane and sustainable way by offering financial support.
Its president, Siti Fauziah Abdul Jaabar, claimed that animal shelters across Malaysia, including those in Langkawi, are struggling financially due to a lack of funding.
She said that by allocating funds to support animal shelters, the government will help to ease the financial burden of providing food, veterinary care, and proper facilities.
She added that this will ensure that the stray population is managed more effectively.
“Providing financial support to shelters and NGOs helps to reduce incidence of dog attacks while ensuring humane treatment of these animals,” Siti Fauziah told FMT.
“Relocating stray dogs to an isolated island is not a viable long-term solution and does not address the root cause of overpopulation,” she added.
Last Tuesday, Langkawi MP Suhaimi Abdullah proposed that one of the smaller islands near Langkawi be turned into a dedicated shelter for stray dogs to prevent further attacks on residents and tourists.
Last Saturday, a four-year-old boy was severely injured in an attack by a pack of dogs in Kampung Dedek, Langkawi.
In response to reports on the attack, Suhaimi suggested that the dogs could be properly cared for by NGOs and local authorities on the designated island.
Suhaimi’s proposal garnered mixed reactions.
Unlike Fauziah Paws, the Global Human Rights Federation gave the thumbs up to the idea.
Its president S Shashi Kumar agrees that it can be viable if the entire operation is fully managed by animal welfare NGOs and shelters.
Shashi, who had previously criticised the local authorities for their poor management of the stray population, said the government could allocate funds to support the efforts of the NGOs and animal shelters to manage operations on the island.
He said the lack of government support means that all animal shelters now have to spend their own money or collect donations from the public.
“It costs more than RM80,000 to manage our animal shelter in Semenyih, the Selangor Furry Future Association,” he told FMT.
“Even after getting all the donations we could, we still have to top it up with at least RM35,000. I have incurred a personal debt of RM20,000 from operating the shelter,” he added.
He also suggested that the government assess the viability of the island as a habitat for strays before it begins to move the animals there.
“The government must also underwrite more than half of the cost of the operations on the island,” he added. - FMT 14 March 2025
