Animal pound needed in Seberang Prai

Stray animals have been an increasing problem in major cities everywhere and Seberang Prai in Penang is facing the same.

With frequent reports of stray dogs biting people near their residential area, the dog catching teams from Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) are always on the hunt for adult dogs and sadly sometimes puppies as shown in this footage are put down.

Citizen journalist, Jimmy Leow showed the video clips to the head of Health Services Department of MPSP Dr Haji Romli and his team at their headquarters at Seberang Prai, Penang.

When questioned if the actions taken by the dog catchers were appropriate, Romli defended the way the puppies were handled and destroyed.

Romli added that for years, local councils and their dog catching teams have been criticised for their inhumane ways of catching and destroying stray animals.

That is why a standard operating procedure has been established to tackle this issue including terminating the animals by shooting to blow pipe and the latest, by lethal injection to the heart.

According to Romli, more than 600 stray animals have been killed monthly since the beginning of this year where 80 percent are dogs.

He added that in comparison with 2011, the figure has in fact, doubled.

The fact that Penang does not have a state run pound for stray animals has led the municipal council to kill strays once they are caught.