ISKANDAR PUTERI: Dog lovers are encouraged to adopt and neuter dogs as a way to lower the number of strays in Johor.

       State tourism, environment, heritage and culture committee chairman K. Raven Kumar said 55,203 stray dogs were captured in operations by local councils and appointed contractors from 2017 until May.

       “Among the districts that recorded the highest number of stray dogs captured are Kulai (1,395), Johor Baru (1,214), Pasir Gudang (951) and Kota Tinggi (427),” he told the state assembly meeting at Bangunan Sultan Ismail in Kota Iskandar on Tuesday (June 21).

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       He was replying to Datuk Jefridin Atan (BN-Kukup), who wanted to know what action was being taken by the government to address the issue of stray dogs and monkey attacks at housing areas and villages.

       Raven Kumar said among the initiatives by local councils was to encourage dog adoption and neutering by working closely with non-governmental organisations.

       “Local authorities also encourage the process of neutering by lowering the licence rate for spayed (RM10-RM40) versus unspayed (RM30-RM60) dogs.

       “The different rates clearly show that the move by local authorities in Johor is to encourage neutering to control the population of stray dogs in residential areas,” he said.

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       On monkey problems, Raven Kumar said the state Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) has carried out 27,390 actions within the last five years.

       “There is no specific action that can be used to resolve human-wildlife conflict but the most effective action used by Perhilitan is the installation of monkey traps," he added.