Malaysia targets becoming an Asean breeding hub for K9 tracker dogs, reducing import costs and leveraging local expertise.
JOHOR BAHRU: Malaysia aspires to become a K9 tracker dog breeding hub in ASEAN through the K9 Operations Centre under the Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM).
Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming said the aspiration is achievable as JBPM has highly skilled officers with expertise in training tracker dogs.
He said the initiative would not only enable Malaysia to produce ‘home-grown champions’, but also position the country as an exporter, thereby reducing costs previously incurred in importing trained K9 tracker dogs from Birmingham, United Kingdom.
“A trained dog with a warranty of expertise was imported from Birmingham at a cost of nearly RM150,000.
“My vision is that one day we will be able to export them back to the United Kingdom and make the K9 Operations Centre a breeding hub in ASEAN, allowing us to sell to Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and others,” he told reporters after launching the World Firefighters’ Day Carnival 2026 here today.
Nga said it is time for Malaysia to move towards becoming a K9 breeding nation rather than continuing to rely on foreign countries, while expressing confidence in JBPM’s expertise in training tracker dogs.
Earlier in his speech, he said JBPM has planned to develop a K9 Operations Centre in Bertam, Penang, which will carry out a domestic breeding programme.
He said the centre is currently in the design and tender procurement stage.
He added that the MADANI Government has approved an allocation of RM2.4 million for the procurement of 16 new tracker dogs from the United Kingdom.
“JBPM currently has only 34 tracker dogs and still requires another 56 to achieve optimal operational capacity,” he added.
