Higher Education Isn’t Limited To Humans, UM Sabah Has Stray Dogs Attending Lectures Too

By Quinny Tan  •  01 Dec 2022 in JUICE ♥

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In a world where education is so vital to the future of our nation, why keep that limited to just humans?

The folks at Universiti Malaysia Sabah agree, and they have the most adorable students diligently attending lectures, though they might not adhere to the dress code.

Recently, clips of stray dogs roaming the campus have been making its rounds on social media drawing praises from dog lovers.

According to the university’s Prof Berhaman Ahmad, the university used to seek the assistance of the Kota Kinabalu City Council to remove the strays.

“But they stopped doing so at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 as the council’s shelter was also swamped with strays caught elsewhere,” he said, adding that strays at the university had since been left alone.

“They are now part of the campus’s community,” he said, adding that the undergraduates too did not seem to mind having dogs in the campus.

Speaking to Malay Mail, he added that to control the stray population, the university did put in new regulations such as ensuring rubbish bins were properly closed so that strays do not rummage through it.

“But I guess some of the students are feeding them hence they are not leaving the campus,” he said.

Just last week, a stray decided to join Prof Berhaman’s lesson. The heartwarming moment was captured by the professor before he shared it on social media.

“I told my students, hey look we have a new student here before I proceeded to pat the dog on its head.”

Prof Berhaman said the brown mutt joined him on the stage as he was about to start his lesson for the day.

“As the lesson progressed, it decided to move to the side of the stage to continue sleeping. It only stood up to leave the lecture hall when I dismissed the students after completing the lessons,” he said, adding that the dog was the first to dash out of the hall.

Prof Berhaman also expressed that he doesn’t have any qualms with the strays on campus, and that “they are also Allah’s creations.”

I don’t know about you, but if I was promised some friendly fluffy faces like these in my university lectures, I’d be more motivated to attend classes.