Kuala lumpur: Malaysia is setting its sights on becoming the leading K9 tracker dog breeding hub in the ASEAN region through the K9 Operations Centre under the Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM). Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming announced this ambitious goal, highlighting the expertise of JBPM's highly skilled officers in training tracker dogs.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the initiative aims not only to produce top-notch tracker dogs locally but also to position Malaysia as an exporter, reducing the costs associated with importing trained K9 tracker dogs from Birmingham, United Kingdom. Currently, a trained dog with a warranty of expertise imported from Birmingham costs nearly RM150,000. Nga envisions that Malaysia will one day export these highly trained dogs back to the United Kingdom and become a breeding hub in ASEAN, expanding its market to countries like Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia.

Minister Nga emphasized the need for Malaysia to transition from relying on foreign countries to becoming a K9 breeding nation. He expressed confidence in JBPM's capabilities in training tracker dogs and mentioned plans to develop a K9 Operations Centre in Bertam, Penang, which will implement a domestic breeding programme. The centre is currently in the design and tender procurement stage.

The MADANI Government has approved a budget of RM2.4 million for the procurement of 16 new tracker dogs from the United Kingdom. At present, JBPM has 34 tracker dogs but requires an additional 56 to reach optimal operational capacity.