The council was responding to a Facebook post by Malaysia Independent Animal Rescue (MIAR) claiming that MDKS had strangled and buried stray dogs.

The council expressed “regret and apology” over the anger and sadness caused by MIAR’s post and has suspended its dog-catching operation to address the issue.

MDKS president Noraini Roslan said the council’s standard operating procedure entailed looping, trapping or netting strays.

She said after a stray was caught, it would be kept in the pound for up to seven days if it had a licence or two days if it did not.

If the dog is not claimed, it will be offered to interested individuals or NGOs.

“Dogs that are diseased and those that are not claimed within the specified time will be put down by means of injection and are pronounced dead by the veterinary officer as per the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1974,” she told The Star.

Dog carcasses are then taken to a landfill for burial or cremated in incinerators, said Noraini.

On the incident that went viral on social media, the council said the contractor had taken the dog carcasses to the landfill in Tanjung Keramat and lowered them from the vehicle using a loop.

“Allegations of strangling the dogs to death are not true at all,” Noraini said, adding that even shooting or using poisoned bait was not allowed at all.

She said the council appointed Vet Fine Sdn Bhd to carry out dog catching from September, with the condition that proper protocols be observed.

She defended the council’s dog-catching operation, saying it had received 91 complaints from the public on the issue of stray dogs, with an average of two to three complaints a week, from January to October this year.