PAWS Animal Welfare Society manager Edward Lim said it was unfair to push the responsibility of sheltering dogs to NGOs.

Deputy Health Minister Lee Boon Chye had earlier suggested that NGOs take responsibility for sheltering strays, failing which the dogs should be put to sleep.

“We want to make sure that the owners take care of their dogs and do not let them roam around.

“If no one is taking care of the dogs, there must be an NGO to adopt them, failing which, the dogs should be put to sleep.

“The responsibility of the health ministry is to provide medical treatment and control the spread of rabies.

“Control of the animals falls under the jurisdiction of the Veterinary Services Department,” the minister was reported to have said on Thursday.

Lim said NGOs do not have enough funds to shelter strays on such a huge level.

“If they are expecting NGOs to do every damn thing, where is the money going to come from? Who is supporting these NGOs?

“Are the NGOs being held to ransom? It sounds like emotional blackmail to me.

“They are pushing the responsibility back to the NGOs. They are basically asking us to take in the dogs, and if we don’t, they will destroy them. What is this?” he told FMT.

Lim said neutering on a large scale is a better alternative than killing these dogs.

“The thing is, they (the government) cannot wait. They just want to destroy and put down animals.

“It is not going to work. How many donkey years has the government been doing that? If it was effective, we would not be having this problem today.

“So, if we are going to continue doing the same thing, without looking for other alternative ways, what type of different results can we expect to get?

“Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results, is stupidity.”

Lim said pet owners were not mentally prepared to spend a huge amount of money to neuter their pets despite understanding the need for it.

Lim said the neutering fee for dogs could easily be RM280 and above, while the cost of neutering cats could be RM150 and above.

“Of course, the price varies from one clinic to another. But in general, the cost of neutering is still high.

“So, the veterinarians can contribute to resolving this problem by reducing their neutering fee. This will be really helpful.

“At the same time, the Veterinary Services Department should open up all their clinics for neutering.

“I believe a lower neutering fee will encourage the public to neuter their pets,” he added.