“When dogs are hungry, they’re not as privileged as us to find food. We wanted to make something that could be there constantly and is refillable,” said Nicole, 22, who is a banker.

Together with her sister, Loh Rachel, 26, and their parents, they brainstormed for ideas, drawing inspiration from videos of self-feeders in India.

For the Lohs, working together for stray animals is something they are familiar with – in 2021, they founded Stray Tales Society, an initiative to feed, rescue, neuter, and foster stray animals.

And after they came up with a design, a volunteer, who is also an employee of their mother’s, helped to construct it.

The feeder, made using PVC pipes and a tire for the base, has compartments for dry food and water. According to Nicole, they launched the self-feeder in Semenyih around July and the first brave doggie who tried it was a female canine they call “Latte”.

Nicole and her mother had placed an egg in the feeder to entice the dogs and Latte strutted up. “She was very interested and confident. Other dogs tried to come, but she growled at them. Once she lifted the lid, we were like, ‘wow, it’s possible!’,”

Since then, they have placed a second self-feeder at another spot in Semenyih. There are also three others in the Sungai Buloh area that are manned by their independent feeder friends.

Each feeder, Nicole explained, can feed approximately 10 to 15 dogs and generally needs to be replenished twice a week.

There are also little heartwarming touches to the feeders.

For example, it is believed that dogs can discern only the colours yellow and blue. “So, we made sure the signboard is yellow. Secondly, Malaysian ants are ‘acrobats’ so we’ve actually greased the tire with oil so the ants cannot go up,” explained Rachel.

A larger purpose

However, the duo revealed the reception to their feeders haven’t always been positive as some people believe that feeding the stray dogs can increase their population.

“For us, the key objective actually isn’t feeding, but spaying and neutering. The thing is, a lot of the dogs we find are either malnourished or injured and, in that sense, they are not fit for surgery. That’s how we started feeding,” said Rachel, who is a management consultant.

“The whole process of feeding or having a feeder is to also build trust so we can later capture them and bring them to the vet,” she added.

To date, Rachel estimated that they have spayed and neutered at least eight dogs. After they have been spayed or neutered, the Loh family finds “fur-ever” homes for them, keeping them at their house or at boarding facilities until someone adopts them.

With the recent media attention about their feeders, the sisters shared that they have received requests for them but are selective about who they supply the feeders to.

“If the intention is just to feed, that’s probably not aligned with our goals. Our goal is to spay and neuter,” said Rachel.

In the future, they plan to launch a self-feeder for cats.

“When I first saw Latte eating from the feeder, I was so happy. It really shows that dogs are very smart creatures. It’s a very unique feeling to come back to the feeder and see dogs with their tails wagging. It’s a bit like coming home to family for me,” Rachel said.

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