_1002.jpg "A family push a cart to their car after buying groceries at a hypermarket in a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Saw Siow Fengn")
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 — Hypermarket chain Giant Malaysia said it will more actively enforce its “No pets” policy following recent complaints over a dog being placed in one of its shopping carts.
It also said it immediately cleansed its shopping trolleys at its Cheras Batu 9 outlet with the aid of a nearby mosque following the recent sighting that had been criticised as insensitive towards the Muslim community, local daily Sinar Harian reported today.
According to Sinar Harian, Giant said it is carrying out an internal investigation to prevent a repeat of such an incident.
“We view the violation of our Standard Procedure to not allow pets to be brought into the business premises as a serious action,” the company was quoted as saying.
Giant also said it will display its “No Pets Allowed” policy at all its outlets.
“To continue giving customers the best experience at our outlets, Giant will install signboards at all our outlets. Any inconvenience that has been caused is much regretted,” Giant also said.
Sinar Harian said many Facebook users gave the thumbs up for Giant’s quick actions to clean the trolleys according to the Islamic cleansing method “sertu”.
The alleged sighting of a customer using a shopping trolley to carry a dog was spread on social media last week, the paper said.
This is not the first time that a dog has been spotted in a trolley in public spots in Malaysia, which has a sizeable Muslim community that views the animal as unclean.
Last September 6, another hypermarket chain, Tesco Malaysia, said it deeply regretted an incident where two customers were spotted placing a dog in their trolley and that it had very strict regulations on pets and animals on its premises.
Tesco Malaysia said then that about 500 trolleys of the related outlet had since been cleaned in accordance with Islamic principles and with the assistance of volunteers from a nearby mosque.
Last September 14, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) said Kuala Lumpur International Airport personnel had immediately isolated a baggage trolley that two individuals had used to carry a dog for proper cleaning, also stating that there are notices within its airports to remind the public that pets are not allowed within the terminal buildings.
MAHB had then said only guide dogs were allowed into terminal buildings after special permission from the company is obtained.
