Malaysian animal activists unleash fury towards dogcatchers’ ‘repulsive’ methods

Malaysia’s municipal dogcatchers are notorious for going after pets instead of actual strays, and for the cruel methods they use

Activists claim that there are bounties on the number of dogs captured, prompting dogcatchers to act indiscriminately to hit targets

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Dogs in Malaysia must be registered with local authorities or they will be considered strays when they venture off private property. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 9:00am, 2 Apr 2023

Babu was just eight years old when his dog was killed by overzealous canine catchers in his hometown of Teluk Intan in Malaysia’s Perak state, shaping his lifetime defence of animals in a country where attitudes towards dogs have once more been thrust into the spotlight.

“I wasn’t far away when they shot him,” the animal rights activist, now 38, told This Week in Asia. “I remember it like it was yesterday.”

His said his dog Blacky, which did not have a pet licence, was safely inside his family’s private premises when the dogcatchers trespassed and shot him.

A rickshaw driver transports dogs in Penang, Malaysia. Dogcatchers in Malaysia have a reputation for targeting pets instead of strays. Photo: Shutterstock

To educate people on animal rights, Babu established A Fortress of Fur on Facebook in 2010. Many of the page’s 160,000 followers have voiced outrage and disgust at a recent incident that rocked Malaysia’s dog-loving community.

On March 13, Patrick Khoo, 69, was injured in a scuffle with dogcatchers appointed by the city council as they tried to capture three dogs at his factory in the city of Petaling Jaya, which borders the capital of Kuala Lumpur.

Khoo alleged he was hit by the men as he defended his dogs from their traps. Videos of the incident have gone viral, drawing anger from Malaysian viewers at the perceived heavy-handedness. The city council has said that it’s launching an internal investigation into the incident.

But the situation devolved further after the police announced they were pressing charges against Khoo for obstructing the dogcatchers from doing their jobs – an offence that comes with a two-year prison sentence and fine of up to 10,000 ringgit (US$2,260) if convicted.

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