Issues: 1) what is the current condition of pet abandonment in Malaysia?

And its effect (Our results show that unlike other countries, Malaysias rates of pet abandonment did not increase with the financial crisis.) it is impossible to know the exact number of pets which are abandoned, since many of them are just dumped on the streets without any official recording. methods which SPCA takes in pets- by owners surrendering their pets to SPCA. Secondly,we will investigate and take in abused pets when notified by the general public. we do not take in strays, whether or not they are caught by municipal councils. we also do not accept temporal surrenders. priorities of SPCA in taking in pets-- prioritise abused and injured animals, especially those taken in by our inspectorate division. Overall, we try to take in as many pets as possible, regardless of the condition of the animal. However, we pet owners who want to surrender their pets to SPCA to attempt to rehouse their pets instead, by finding another person who is willing to keep the pet. This is due to the fact that SPCA will have to euthanize the pet if the pet is not adopted within a certain period of time. SPCA have a severe lack of space, as can be seen by the cramped conditions in SPCA. They also lack manpower, as they only have 20 full-time staff to take care of approximately 700 animals. However, they have sufficient finances, as they are sponsored by various businesses including CIMB bank, and they also receive regular monthly donations by the general public.

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2) Causes? social concerns are the main causes. There are many condominium cases where pet owners are not allowed to keep their pets in apartments. Some of the social concern elaborated by the respondent are due to the unique situation of Malaysia where Muslims, who could not have dogs for religious reason, live in close proximity with other races which do keep dogs as pets. Hence, when dog owners live in Malay populated areas, they receive social pressure to remove their dogs. There are very few cases of pet owners surrendering their pets to SPCA citing financial problem. Another issue that she mentioned was about people who were given pets as gifts during festive seasons. She states that this should not be done because there are a lot of responsibilities that come with taking care of a pet, and there is no guarantee that the person wants a pet or is ready to take care of one. pets have only been collateral, a thing that could have been bought or sold depending on their whim and fancy. This concept did not regard pets as members of the family, or as something to be loved and cherished, but instead as property. Hence, they could have been abandoned at will. issue that has come up was the perception of many people that pet ownership has been only short-term. Hence, they were not prepared for the long-term responsibility of taking care of a pet. - Had too many pets due to the pet reproducing-- the irresponsibility of the owner, which includes not neutering their pet, impulse buying of pets, irresponsible breeding of pedigree dogs and cats. (mongrel are has no worth) -Suffered from a chronic illness and were not able to take care of the pet anymore, -The owner died, while his/her family and friends refused to take care of the pet or owner is too sick to take care of the pet -Had family or friends who disliked the pet (due to allergies, cultural or religious reasons)

-The pet had behavioural problems like aggression, furniture-destroying tendencies, as well as not being toilet trained. However, this can also be blamed on the owner for not having their pet trained properly. 3) Effects? 1)Society--Increase in pet abandonment, increase in euthanasia, euthanasia is not cheap. It cost around RM 200 per dog .The current solution regarding pet abandonment, which was the mass capturing of abandoned and stray animals before euthanizing them, had not only cruel. It was also expensive and impractical in the long run, and was mostly a knee-jerk reaction to the citizens complaints. , SPCA does not set a specific time limit for the animal to live in SPCA before being euthanized. Generally, they will allow the pets to live as long as possible unless certain problems arise. For instance, they will euthanize pets with behavioural problems like aggression towards humans and other animals first because they do not want these characteristics to rub off on other animals. They state that pets are social creatures, and they form packs. Hence, they tend to copy behaviour from each other. Besides that, aggressive pets are rarely adopted, due to their tendency to bite. They will also euthanize critically ill animals which cannot be cured, as they do not want the animal to suffer, as well as to prevent disease from spreading through the animal population in SPCA. She also notes that young animals usually do not stay very long because they are easily adopted. 2) government 4) Solution? 1) society --the general public must have been encouraged to adopt instead of buying pure-bred pets, as this would have reduced the problem of overpopulation in animal shelters, hence preventing the mass euthanasia of abandoned pets. the throw-away culture of society concerning pets had been changed by education. Pet owners had to understand that choosing to have a pet is equivalent to adopting a child. One had to take responsibility for the pet, until the pets die. Hence, potential pet owners had to think about whether they had the financial and mental capabilities to have their pets taken care of before they bought or adopted a pet. 2) government- all family pets should have been neutered to prevent excessive breeding, having the number of abandoned pets reduced. the government should have criminalized pet abandonment, by pet owners who dumped their pets fined and enforce it However, on the current status quo, there is no law concerning pet abandonment in Malaysia. and this solution had only been feasible if the government had a database of registered pet owners and their pets, which would have make detection much easier. 3) animal shelter--They also have a foster home program for these young animals, to help bring up these animals in a safer environment. highly encourages pet owners to neuter their pets, as it prevents the proliferation of unwanted animals, hence reducing the number of abandoned animals, as well as to prevent inbreeding among siblings. It also reduces the population of strays. She then mentions that SPCA does provide neutering services, whether in their Neutering Clinic (KlinicKembiri) in Setapak or in SPCA, Selangor itself. The cost of the service varies with the type and size of the animals. For instance, the average cost of neutering for a dog is between RM200-RM400. Besides that, she believes that the