Don’t just criticise stray dog bounty scheme, says Seremban mayor

Seremban City Council (MBS) Mayor Masri Baharuddin has called on critics of the council's voluntary stray dog handover scheme to offer practical alternatives instead of solely criticizing it. While open to all suggestions for addressing the city's stray dog issue, the mayor emphasized that merely criticizing the plan is unproductive.

Using a Malay idiom, he warned against futile efforts. "Don't just criticise us like ‘anjing menyalak bukit’ (dogs barking at hills)," he stated. The mayor clarified that designing a solution to the stray dog problem is a complex task. His primary objective is to ensure the areas under MBS's jurisdiction are stray dog-free. Earlier, an animal rights group urged MBS to halt the scheme, under which the council pays RM50 for each adult dog and RM25 for every puppy handed over.

Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh of Lawyers for Animal Rights raised concerns that the cash-for-capture scheme could encourage theft or seizure of pet dogs for financial gain. They urged MBS to disclose its legal authority, budgetary approval, standard operating procedures for dog capture, and plans for the subsequent treatment and disposal of surrendered dogs.

Mayor Masri lamented that MBS often takes the blame for stray dog-related incidents, and expressed hope that the public would view the council's efforts positively. He noted that MBS had hired a contractor for dog-catching operations and allocated funds to neuter the animals. "It is not cheap to manage these stray dogs," Masri emphasized.

"However, I would like to stress that we welcome anyone willing to take in these dogs. The only requirement is that we will charge these people for the costs incurred by MBS while caring for these animals."