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. 2023 Jul 26;23(1):1428.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-16276-5.

Public perspectives on strays and companion animal management in Malaysia

Syafiq Munir Ismail Munir  1 , Mohd Istajib Mokhtar  2 , Ahmad Firdhaus Arham  3
Affiliations

Public perspectives on strays and companion animal management in Malaysia

Syafiq Munir Ismail Munir et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Strays and companion animal management is a sensitive issue in Malaysia that incites solid and conflicting views. Through structured questionnaires administered to a random sample of 704 respondents, this study explored public opinion on a) causes of the stray animal population, b) the management of the stray animal population, and c) the national strategy on strays and companion Animal Management. The results show that 70.3% of respondents agreed that a lack of public awareness regarding animal care was the major contributor to the stray animal population. In addition, 58.1% of respondents felt that treating and vaccinating animals exposed to zoonotic diseases is a viable approach that could be instituted as a reasonable measure in stray animal population management. Finally, developing animal protection areas through a multi-stakeholder partnership strategy initiative recorded the highest support (48.4%) for intervention planning for stray animal management at a national level. Notably, a significant percentage of public responses were implicitly influenced by demographic variables. These findings provide valuable insights into public opinion regarding stray and companion animal management in Malaysia. These findings could inform the development of future legislation aimed at reducing the unfavorable effects of stray animal populations on humans and the ecology of MalaysiaPlease check if affiliations [is/are] captured correctly.

Keywords: Animal Overpopulation; Animal Regulation and Implementation; Companion Animal Management; Malaysia; Strays; Urban Ecology Sustainability.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The studies areas within Klang Valley region. Map credit to (Fandi et al., 2020) [39]
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Demographic characteristics of respondents
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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