The Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) has decided to temporarily put on hold the new policy requiring dog owners to seek their neighbours consent before being allowed to apply for a dog ownership licence.

Council's assistant director of public relations Asfarizal Abdul Rashid yesterday said the policy is now on hold until it is able to fully assess public feedback on the matter.

It is also seeking the response of the resident committees belonging to 24 zones under its jurisdiction when they convene at an April meeting, he said.

Reactions to the requirement, which was first announced on Jan 1, have been both positive and negative, said Asfarizal, but the council is very much open to more comments from the public.

He also dismissed the notion that the policy discriminates against dog owners and non-Muslims.

"It is very difficult for us. The complaints statistics are the highest for dogs," he said, adding that among the more common complaint is the mess caused by the canine pets.

Errant dog owners

When asked why the council does not just simply tighten its enforcement against errant dog owners, rather than impose a blanket restriction to dog ownership, Asfarizal said the matter is "more complicated than that."

"Complaints raised by one neighbour against another is difficult to resolve," he said.

An example would be in cases where complains are lodged against the late night barking by the pet, but which the animal no longer makes in the daytime when council officers are able to investigate.

On Friday, opposition party DAP criticised the council's move as discriminatory against dog owners and unfair against non-Muslims in the country.

The latest action - which adds onto an earlier requirement for dog owners to submit a veterinarian's health certificate before they can get a licence - suggests that the council has forgotten that the right to rear dogs is a fundamental one, said its Selangor chief Ronnie Liu.

If the new policy is imposed, residents from Subang to Seri Kembangan will need to obtain written permission from their neighbours on both sides of the fence that they are not opposed to having dogs next door.