Animal welfare groups have welcomed the government's willingness to consider a dedicated fund for stray animal management, but warned that financial assistance alone will not solve the country's stray animal crisis.
The reaction comes a day after the political secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office, Azman Abidin, said the government was mulling a special fund and tax exemptions to improve stray animal management and ease the burden on animal shelters and NGOs.
Global Human Rights Federation (GHRF) president S Shashi Kumar said that while dedicated funding could ease the financial burden on animal welfare groups, it would have little impact if longstanding gaps in enforcement and policy remained unaddressed.
“Malaysia does not need temporary announcements or promises. It needs genuine political will and long-term structural reform.
“This includes strengthening the Animal Welfare Act 2015, implementing a nationwide humane Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return-Manage programme, regulating unreasonable redemption fees, ensuring greater accountability among local authorities, and establishing a transparent and meaningful partnership with stakeholders,” he told Malaysiakini.
Additionally, Shashi cautioned that financial aid alone is not enough if rescuers and NGOs continue to face high redemption fees imposed by local councils to reclaim impounded animals.
The issue is one he has experienced firsthand when, in April, Shashi was fined RM2,000 by Kuala Lumpur City Hall to secure the release of a stray dog after local authorities caught it.
"If NGOs, rescuers and feeders continue to be burdened with excessive redemption fees, a significant portion of any government funding will merely end up flowing back to the local councils. That is not a sustainable solution," he added.
Get to root cause
Animal rescuer Shima Aris also echoed the call for tougher enforcement, stressing that the government’s proposal to provide funds fails to address the root cause of the problem.
She said additional funding would be better spent strengthening animal welfare laws, improving the Veterinary Services Department’s enforcement and establishing a dedicated animal welfare police task force to investigate cruelty cases and crack down on illegal breeders.
"Prevention and enforcement are what will create lasting change," she told Malaysiakini.
Shima also pointed out irresponsible pet abandonment, illegal breeding and poor practices by some feeders and rescuers as contributors to the growing stray population.
She said some individuals repeatedly redeemed dogs from council pounds only to release them into other neighbourhoods without neutering them, merely shifting the problem elsewhere.
"We need solutions that address the root of the problem - responsible feeding, mandatory neutering, enforcement against abandonment and illegal breeding, and proper management of stray animals.
“Otherwise, everyone loses, especially the dogs," she added.
Not new reforms
Shashi noted these proposed reforms were not new, emphasising that animal welfare NGOs have been advocating for them for years.
Since the brutal killing of a dog named Kopi in October 2024, Shashi said GHRF and other NGOs have organised meetings with multiple stakeholders and government officials to propose humane and sustainable solutions.
This included peaceful demonstrations, memorandums, working papers and budget recommendations to address the stray animal population.
"Despite all these efforts, nothing meaningful has changed. The response we repeatedly received was that the government had no allocation and no funding to implement these proposals.
“More disappointingly, we did not see a sincere commitment by the government to genuinely engage with us or seriously consider the recommendations put forward by those who have been working on the ground for years," he added. - Mkini
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