A RESIDENT has expressed concern that a garbage collection site near the Taman Fortuna shop area in Kota Kinabalu has turned into a pet dumping site.
The resident, who wished to be known only as Emily, said she had seen individuals dropping off cats at the site.
“I have seen this three times. A car stopped at the site and the passenger got down with a cat and released it there. It makes me wonder why they did not send the cat to an animal shelter.”
Emily said a pet owner once told her she wanted to let go of her cat and claimed that no animal shelter was interested in taking it.
“The owner said she had no choice, but to dump his cat at a garbage site. It’s really sad, especially to hear that even animal shelters refused to take the animal. If this is true, why?”
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Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) volunteer Dr Randolf Paza said there had been cases where the SPCA took in pets and dogs from their owners.
“However, it depends whether we have enough space to take these pets or stray animals. Currently, there are 400 cats and dogs (under SPCA care and awaiting to be adopted).
“If pet owners decide to let go of their pets, they can come to SPCA, but we will have to query them first. It’s part of the procedure. We need to know what’s the reason they are letting the animals go and ascertain the animals’ health status.
“We will look at the owner’s profile, whether he/she is a repeated owner who dumps his or her pets. There have been cases where pet owners want to keep puppies only because they are cute. When they grow up, they are not wanted anymore.”
Paza advised pet owners to be more responsible.
