How to Handle Strays

How to Handle Strays

What to do if you see a stray/abandoned/lost cat or dog, whether injured or healthy

IMPORTANT: All shelters are overly full, please don’t expect that these shelters can help. It’s impossible for shelters to take in all cats & dogs that are currently on the street.

We hope these guidelines will help Penangites know what to do if they see a cat or dog on the street. If you are outside the Penang State, please contact your local shelters or council. We only operate within Penang.

NOTE: In these guidelines we suggest contacting your local council in certain situations. The contact numbers of Penang councils are MBPP at 04 2592189/2592291/2810850/2812696 or MBSP at 04 5402566/5381598.

1. You see a dog on the street that looks like it has an owner – looks healthy, not skinny, possibly wearing a collar, maybe leash too, approachable. Try to take a photo. If you are able, try to get a leash/rope on the dog and take it to your compound to confine it. Send all details & photo to as many shelters as you can find online. If you’re not able to confine the dog, then just send the photo & location. SPCA Penang will post the info on their social media in an effort to locate the owner, and other shelters will help too.

2. You see a cat on the street that looks like it has an owner – looks healthy, not skinny, possible wearing a collar, approachable. Try to take a photo. If you are able, try to get the cat into a box [with air holes]/carrier and take it to your compound to confine it. Send all details & photo to as many shelters as you can find online. If you’re not able to confine the cat, then just send the photo & location. SPCA Penang will post the info on their social media in an effort to locate the owner, and other shelters will help too.

3. For 1. & 2., you’ve kept the cat or dog for about a week, no owner has been found and you can no longer keep the animal. Try asking friends/family if they are willing to adopt. Try posting for a new owner in sites such as petfinder.my and spca-penang.net/3rd-party-adoptions. If that fails, then contact your council to see if they are willing to help in any way, if no adoption family can be found then try contacting shelters.

4. You see a sick/injured dog/cat on the street – if you are able, please get the animal to a vet clinic. A list of vet clinics in Penang with their operating hours is available here https://spca-penang.net/penang-vet-clinics/. If it looks like the animal might have an owner, then do as in 1. & 2. as well. If you are not able to transport the animal to a clinic, then contact your council to see if they can pick up the animal. If that fails, try contacting shelters in your area. If the animal is mobile, do try to confine it so whoever comes to collect knows where to find it.

5. You are bothered by the noise/smell/aggressiveness etc of stray dogs and/or cats in your neighborhood – please contact your local council, councils are responsible for strays. Most shelters do not catch strays, not having the time, equipment, manpower, space etc to do this.

6. You find a litter of newborn kittens or puppies – newborns need their mother, please try to find the mother, she may have just left them for a while to search for food. Young kittens & puppies are not safe in a shelter environment so if your are able to foster them (or have friends/family that can) then please do until they are 8 weeks of age and can be vaccinated. After the first vaccination has been done, you can contact your local shelters to see if they are able to take.

7. You find a stray/abandoned cat or dog that is not doing well – appears skinny, struggling to find food, appears to have been hurt possibly in fights with other animals, etc. Please follow the instructions in 1.,2. and/or 4.
Shelters need help. If you are able to help with injured strays, help with rehoming or fostering for a while, please do. Also if you are able, please get the strays neutered, to help prevent the continuing breeding.

Shelters need help. If you are able to help with injured strays, help with rehoming or fostering for a while, please do. Also if you are able, please get the strays neutered, to help prevent the continuing breeding.