The government is ready to consider a proposal for a special fund and tax exemptions to empower stray animal welfare and ease the burden on pet owners.
KUALA LUMPUR: The government is ready to consider the proposal for the provision of a special fund in the federal budget as well as the granting of tax exemption incentives to empower the management of stray animal welfare and lighten the burden on pet owners in the country.
Political secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Datuk Azman Abidin said that the lack of a special budget has forced most NGOs and animal shelters to operate voluntarily, using their own funds to manage and rescue stray animals.
“… this matter is actually not just helping the government, but we know that they will make these pets a part of their family, providing them with enough food and so on.
“When there is special funding, we can request them to follow the existing SOP (standard operating procedure) to obtain the funds so that they learn how to manage these animals,” he said to reporters after officiating the Dialogue Session with Agencies, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), and Pemain Industri Haiwan Peliharaan (Kucing dan Anjing) Malaysia held here today.
Azman said the pet industry is growing rapidly, not only opening economic opportunities in various supporting sectors such as food and veterinary services but also reflecting changes in societal lifestyles.
Clearly, this rapid development demands a more ethical and disciplined ownership responsibility to maintain public health, community safety and neighbourhood harmony.
“Issues involving pets cannot be resolved alone. It requires the involvement of all parties, including government agencies, local authorities, NGOs, veterinarians, industry players, academia, and the community,” he said.
Azman also assured that all the proposals and legal improvements resulting from the dialogue session will be compiled into an official proposal paper before being submitted to the government for further action.
Also present at the dialogue session were the Malaysian Animal Association deputy director-general Dr. Aida Muhid, Malaysian Animal Association president Dr. Arie Dwi Andika, and Department of Environmental Health director Dr. Nor Halizam binti Ismail.
Meanwhile, the attending NGO representative Jurieena Abdul Rani said that financial support from the government is crucial in enabling NGOs to assist local authorities in controlling the population of stray cats and dogs.
“This platform is indeed good because we have a lot of discussions, and we can hear the complaints of others so that the higher-ups know what we have been facing all this time to help these animals,” he added.
