Meet The Puppy Behind Malaysia’s Plan To Save Millions On Rescue Dog Imports

The Government is taking long-term steps to reduce Malaysia’s dependence on costly imported rescue dogs, a move that could potentially save millions of ringgit in future procurement and training costs.

The effort reached a major milestone with the birth of “Brave”, the first rescue dog puppy successfully bred under the Fire and Rescue Department’s (JBPM) local breeding programme.

For years, Malaysia relied heavily on imported search-and-rescue dogs, which can cost up to RM150,000 each after factoring in breeding, overseas training and transportation costs.

Housing and Local Government Minister, Nga Kor Ming, said Brave symbolises the Government’s efforts to build a sustainable local rescue dog ecosystem.

The Labrador puppy was born on March 18 to rescue dog pair Lottie and Miles at JBPM’s Operational Training Centre in Bertam, Penang.

Currently, JBPM only has 34 trained rescue dogs nationwide and requires another 56 dogs to reach optimal operational capacity.

Previously, the Government approved RM2.4 million to procure 16 rescue dogs from the United Kingdom.

JBPM is also planning to establish a dedicated Rescue Dog Operations Centre in Bertam, Penang, to strengthen local breeding and training efforts.

Malaysia’s rescue dogs previously played important roles in the Batang Kali landslide tragedy and the Türkiye earthquake mission. 

Although Brave is still a puppy, his birth marks the beginning of Malaysia’s ambition to breed and train world-class rescue dogs using local expertise.