State DVS director Dr Saira Banu Rejab said the owners only have to lodge reports with the animal welfare officer on duty at 04-5084368 or lodge complaints through the DVS Animal Welfare portal at awa.dvs.gov.my.

“An animal welfare officer will head out to pick them up, as long as the animal has been dead for less than 48 hours,” she said on the sidelines of the Animal Welfare Day event in Penaga here today.

Saira was responding to a proposal to set up a lab on the island after pet owners claimed they were often told by DVS officers to transport the poisoned animals to the mainland.

This follows a spate of deaths involving about 30 stray dogs and one pet husky over the past two weeks.

Saira said the department’s lab in Seberang Perai serves the whole state. She said official complaints are important to establish a paper trail in the event a case is brought to court.

Separately, Penang executive councillor Fahmi Zainol said the public must be educated better on how to make complaints related to animal welfare.

He also said there must be heftier penalties imposed on animal cruelty cases.

Saira said her department received 135 complaints of animal cruelty from January to July, but no cases have been brought to court.