The meeting between the residents and animal lovers at the D'Pinggiran food court.
A SOCIAL media post claiming that 250 dogs would be slaughtered by the local authorities at 9pm on Feb 15 near a futsal court at Jalan 5 in Taman Desa Pinggiran Putra brought over a hundred independent dog rescuers and animal rights activists to the Sepang housing area recently.
It started when Joseff Hoo, 25, a street lighting manufacturer who already had 14 dogs and four cats in his Damansara apartment studio, urged animal lovers in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor to be present at the location to save the strays.
Hoo decided to act after receiving a PDF copy of a letter between the Sepang Municipal Council’s (MPSepang) Health Department and the local councillor confirming that a dog-catching operation would be taking place at the time and location mentioned above.
He had received the letter via Whatsapp from a friend whose name he does not want to disclose.
The result was a two-hour dialogue between the animal lovers and about 50 Taman Desa Pinggiran Putra residents at Medan Selera D'Pinggiran.
The meeting according to Desa Pinggiran Putra Persiaran 5 Residents Association chairman Radin Mohd Azmi Radin Abd Rahman, 52, had started off well but it did not end on a pleasant note.
“We were supposed to reach a solution. One of the visitors raised her voice. The residents did not take too kindly to her behaviour and the meeting ended," said Radin.
Residents were also upset with Hoo’s post because it implied that a mass slaughter of dogs was taking place in their housing area, a claim which they felt painted them as a cruel and heartless community.
In his latest post, Hoo apologised to the residents.
"I hope we can resolve this misunderstanding and work together to protect these poor animals," he said.
Speaking on behalf of the residents, Radin stressed that theirs was not a community of dog haters.
"They are also God’s creations. In fact, we even have one or two residents who would give them food. But their numbers have become too many.
"In our neighbourhood of 1,500 houses, there are easily 50 stray dogs in the area.
"They move in packs of five, eight or ten. They chase after residents and overturn our rubbish bins. It is a very uncomfortable situation," said Radin.
So if calling in the local authorities was not a favoured move with the animal rights groups then they must come up with an action plan for the problem, said Radin.
As for now, no independent rescuer group or NGO was working with residents for the trapping of strays in Taman Desa Pinggiran Putra, said Radin.
Radin said those who intend to help would have the cooperation of residents.
"We can easily form a team of 10 to work with the volunteers and refreshments will be on us too," he said.
