With the number of adopters drying up, the shelter run by the Seberang Perai SPCA is facing an overpopulation problem, as unclaimed dogs from the council dog pound are sent here.

The shelter, on a two-acre site bordering Juru and Simpang Ampat, is the largest of its kind in the northern region.

The shelter’s chairman, Lew Wen Teik, said many people had shown interest in adopting, but the numbers had slowed down drastically due to the pandemic.

Making things worse was the lack of staff willing to care for the animals. The shelter currently has only five employees.

Lew said the shelter has had to dip into its savings, and could only stay afloat for four more months at most.

“It costs us 70 sen per day for the upkeep of each animal. But the past two years have been tough and as a charitable animal rescue body, we rely on public donations,” he said.

Richard Ong, who manages the shelter, said he had to sell two of his properties to keep the place open. Running the shelter costs more than RM50,000 a month, he said.

Estimated expenses include RM30,000 for food, and RM20,000 for miscellaneous expenses that covers rent, workers’ salary, medicine, utilities and fees of veterinary doctors who check on the animals.

Ong said the shelter also urgently needed volunteers to help clean up the shelter, bathe the dogs, and paint rusted cages.

Many people donated dog food but cat food was hard to come by, he said. The shelter has about 600 cats.

“We also want to create a space for the dogs to be walked within our compounds, but we do not have the manpower to manage large groups of dogs.”

Ong urged more animal lovers to adopt dogs and cats from the shelter. Those interested in helping may visit the shelter’s Facebook page.