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CITY Hall caught four dogs from an Inanam commercial property and is keeping a lookout for canines wandering about unsupervised in a Kepayan housing area.

This follows feedback from the patron of an eatery at the Inanam Business Centre and a Taman Selesa homeowner about the nuisance posed by strays roaming about the common areas at these locations.

The former related the discomfort he felt when some dogs approached the table on the pavement, where he was sitting to beg for scraps. 

The Kepayan rate-payer, meanwhile, bemoaned the din stirred up by the strays, saying that their barking often disrupted the peace in the neighbourhood and prevented those living there from getting a restful sleep at night.

Between four to five canines could be spotted on the housing road in the early morning and late in the evening, according to him, when the weather was cooler. 

These individuals provided Hotline with the pertinent details regarding to their canine encounters. This information was forwarded to the agency.

A spokeswoman for City Hall’s Environmental Health Department said inspections were made of Jalan Perdagangan and Lorong Perdagangan 1 – both in Inanam – and Lorong Rampai in Kepayan, shortly after it learned what had been transpiring there.

She said the Business Centre was checked twice over a two-day period in the second week of the month.

“Seven members of our Animal Control Unit (ACU) walked around the rows of shophouses here,” she said. “They were equipped with hand-held tube nets.”

She said the team managed to snare two dogs in both instances. 

In each case, the canines were loaded onto an open truck which had been sent to facilitate this effort, according to her.

The spokeswoman said a similar dog-catching exercise was mounted in Taman Selesa on Monday, but no strays were spotted roaming about on the single housing road there.

The spokeswoman said this was not the first time this year that the ACU had gone to the residential property.

She said the ACU team made two checks of Lorong Rampai over a span of 10 days in October.

“Ten of our workers walked down this road and the adjacent ones at the time. They came from the first check empty handed but managed to catch two strays during their second try.”

She said a total of 24 pamphlets on City Hall’s dog-rearing guidelines were personally handed over to homeowners or left in post-boxes of homes in the area during these inspections.

She said the former were reminded of its two-dog limit, as well as the necessity to have their canines registered with the agency.

“Dog-owners were also asked to ensure that their pets were properly vaccinated and did not become a public nuisance. 

“They were told to accompany their canines if they released their pets onto the housing roads. Their dogs had be leashed up in such instances.”

She said pet-owners were also advised to step in when their pets started barking so that this noise did not continue non-stop and disturb their neighbours.

“The ACU will make periodic checks of Taman Selesa to determine whether rate-payers are complying with our requirements.”

The spokeswoman said the Unit was authorised to catch any canines found wandering unsupervised on those roads under its jurisdiction.

She said the owners could be compounded up to RM500 – under City Hall’s Registration and Control of Dogs By-laws 1963 (Amendment 2008) – and would have to settle this penalty before their dogs were returned to them.

“Repeat offenders risk being taken to court. If found guilty, they could be subject to a fine for as much as RM5,000.”