PENANG Island City Council (MBPP) mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang has urged dog owners to be responsible by getting their dogs licensed as well as not to abandon them.
Yew said there are some 10,000 stray dogs on the island and the council is working towards having zero strays.
“If you want to adopt dogs, please be more responsible. So far, we have a total of 4,168 dogs registered with us,” Yew said during a press conference held at the ‘Kempen Kesedaran Haiwan Kesayangan Dan Pelepasan Anjing’ on Aug 14.
Yew also said in 2017, the MBPP had formed a partnership with International Aid for the Protection and Welfare of Animals (IAPWA) Penang via a signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the organisation.
“Following the MoU exchange, we began the ‘Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR)’ programme on March 18, 2018, for stray and abandoned dogs.
“We will continue our awareness campaign on strays as we want to achieve our aim of having zero strays on the island.
“This year, a total of 1,723 dog licences were renewed,” he added.
Meanwhile, IAPWA Penang project director Choong Koon Yean thanked MBPP for being a far-sighted council and said their collaboration has received praises from organisations locally and globally.
“Our successful collaboration received acclamation from states such as Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Sarawak.
“They approached me to work together with them in tackling the issues on strays. Among them were a Selangor councillor and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
“When they ask me how MBPP-IAPWA partnership can be very successful, I always tell them that I work with a progressive and far-sighted council.
“Apart from that, a group of Malaysians in the US had also shared with me their interest to come here and see how we conduct our programmes,” Choong said.
Story & Pix by Tanushalini Moroter