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PETALING JAYA: The Manjung municipal council (MPM) has filed a police report over allegations that it had “cruelly” disposed of dead stray dogs by dumping them in a pit.
The council said a viral video on the issue had led to a public misunderstanding, insisting that it did not involve any of its facilities.
“MPM strongly denies the claims contained in the video, that the disposal of (dead) stray dogs in Manjung was done cruelly.
“MPM receives complaints from the public of dog carcasses on roads that need to be cleared after they were run over.
“In such cases, the carcasses are buried at a transit site as part of our set SOPs.
“MPM wants to stress that no shooting of the animals is done at the sites.
“The dog carcasses collected involve dogs that had died from accidents or illnesses,” it said in a statement.
The local authority said there was a need to address the rising number of stray dogs in Manjung, which has led to 51 dog bite cases being reported.
However, it maintained that its SOPs for strays were in line with federal guidelines.
“MPM is committed to managing stray animals in carrying out our responsibilities.
“We hope that all stakeholders, including the local community, would offer their support and cooperation in this endeavour,” it said.
A former Manjung local councillor had published several videos showing dogs, some still wearing collars, in a 1.3-metre-deep hole at a garbage disposal site.
In one of the videos, the man could be heard saying that two of the puppies were still alive when they were “chucked into the hole” with their dead mother.
He also claimed the council had a “new practice” of shooting stray dogs in the outskirts and then dumping them in mass graves.
Howeever, an NGO, Persatuan Haiwan Terbiar Malaysia, believed that the incidents in the videos were from September 2022.