Dog owners in the state of Malacca are now left panicked after the state government issued a notice banning terrace houses residents from owning dogs. This ruling was apparently issued after the government received multiple complaints from residents about the abundant amount of stray dogs roaming around.
Currently, only those staying in corner-terrace houses are permitted to keep up to two dogs. State Housing, Local Government and Environment Committee chairman Datuk Ismail Othman said the ruling was approved in the state legislative assembly. The ruling was first enforced by the Malacca Hang Tuah Jaya Municipal Council before it was extended to other local councils in the state.
Desperate residents are now seeking help from the Malacca Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) to try and get the notice reviewed in hopes they won’t be needed to part from their canine companions.
The vice-chairman of Malacca’s SPCA, Sunny Huang Tui Chuan, has taken action by requesting the state government to review the by-law once more. He describes it as animal cruelty seeing as owners have no choice but to abandon their pets due to a law they had no say in.
“With this ruling, owners have no choice but to give up their dogs. The animals will then end up as strays, creating a nuisance,” he said at the Malacca SPCA animal shelter home in Lorong Kapten Nekmat, Kampung Kubu here yesterday.
Since the announcement, SPCA has been receiving multiple calls from dog owners who were left with no choice but to give up their pets to the shelter. It is a huge concern considering the SPCA shelter home was overcrowded with 198 dogs which was double of what they could manage.
SPCA legal adviser, Quek Kia Ping, stated how this ruling would only lead to further issues such as animal cruelty. “With more stray dogs roaming the streets, those who do not like them may abuse them in their attempts to chase the animals away. In the past, residents were allowed to keep dogs if they obtained their neighbours’ consent.”
In order to gather support against this law, a petition has been set up which has over 5000 signatures already as dog owners everywhere are uniting to show their disapproval of such a ruling.
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