Campaign launched to neuter stray animals

KUALA LUMPUR: A campaign to neuter stray animals is under way to prevent 210,000 unwanted pets from being put down in Malaysian shelters annually.

PAWS Animal Welfare Society Malaysia is launching Project 575, an awareness campaign to bring public attention to the fact that 575 pets are being euthanised every day.

“We receive an average of 3,000 surrenders a year but only have room for 300 to 400 pets at any one time at our shelter,” said PAWS marketing and communications director Dave Avran.

TV personality and blogger Jojo Struys said the sheer number of dogs and cats that get put down in this country is staggering.

A dose of love: Struys helping out at the PAWS shelter in Petaling Jaya.

“More funds need to be raised and manpower made available to neuter stray animals,” said Struys.

She said that besides donating money for Project 575, people could also adopt pets from PAWS and other shelters instead of buying them from shops.

PAWS is among 28 charitable organisations and non-governmental organisations that will benefit from a fund-raising carnival, organised by Berjaya Corpo­ration Bhd, that will be held at Berjaya Times Square here on Saturday.

The carnival is to mark Berjaya Corporation’s inaugural Founder’s Day in honour of chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan.

The carnival, from 10am to 7pm, will see special appearances by celebrities.

A raffle draw will be held, with the grand prize being a Mazda 2 worth RM85,000.

Other organisations taking part include Mercy Malaysia, Malaysian Association for the Blind, Cleft Lip and Palate Association of Malaysia and the Breast Cancer Welfare Association of Malaysia.

-TheStar-