Sabah's Stray Animals Get International Attention

By Nur Adika Bujang

KOTA KINABALU, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- The International Aid for the Protection and Welfare of Animals (IAPWA), a non-profit organization based in the United Kingdom, would be looking forward to working closely with the Sabah government in dealing with stray animals, such as dogs and cats, menacing public places in the state.

Its co-founder, Nicola Stevens said Sabah was popular for its wildlife conservation efforts which should also be extended to stray animals.

"We have lots of people from the UK visiting Sabah and they tell us how marvelous and beautiful Sabah was.

"But we do have those who bring back stories of poor conditions of dogs or cats they saw here and said that the Sabah people were cruel and did not know how to take care of these small creatures.

"In the end, there is this bad perception of Sabah when it comes to dealing with animals which could also affect your tourism industry. We want to change that perception because so many people keep coming here and we want them to bring back only good news of your country," she told Bernama after meeting State Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor here Thursday.

Stevens, who was accompanied by co-founder Lynsey Gill, and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Kota Kinabalu (SPCAKK) president Iskandar Mohd Ali said IAPWA would be formulating the best practice template for Kota Kinabalu to follow which would then be duplicated by other district councils.

"This is not something easy to do and we cannot implement something and see results overnight.

"We are delighted that the government acknowledges our concern and willing to work with us in finding short-term and long-term solutions in dealing with the problem as well as providing financial assistance," she said.

Stevens and Gill were here to establish a network with the local government and other related bodies on the protection of animals in the state.

Meanwhile, Hajiji welcomed IAPWA's assistance and requested the organization conduct a briefing with district council officers on how to deal with stray animals in a humane way.

He said it was important that international bodies point out what was needed to be addressed in Sabah to minimize bad reporting of the state in other countries.

-- BERNAMA