Veterinarian and animal rights advocate Dr Salehatul Khuzaimah Ali, who was present at the meeting, told FMT that the city council would work with the community and NGOs to manage the stray dog population within the city limits.

“(The city council) is also devising a ‘catopia’, an area (designated) for cats to mingle.

“We are going to discuss how we want to settle the problems by (laying out both the public and the city council’s) concerns,” she said.

Last Saturday, FMT reported that MBSA was due to begin culling strays following numerous complaints from the public that dogs were becoming a nuisance, chasing cycling children, scratching vehicles and killing cats.

Yesterday, Selangor’s Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin said in a Facebook post she was disappointed with the “catch-and-kill operation”, adding that neutering strays could help to address the issue.

Meanwhile, MBSA said it will heed the advice of Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin, with mayor Cheremi Tarman saying the council will meet with residents to explain how MBSA manages stray dogs.

“We will refer to the state government for it to be brought to the housing and local government ministry to improve the existing circular, including replacing the word ‘disposal’ which can give a negative impression, especially to non-governmental organisations and animal lovers.

“The ‘disposal’ method practised by the MBSA is to send the animals to animal welfare centres, not to ‘put to sleep’ as only veterinary officers are allowed to conduct the procedure,” he said in Shah Alam today.