KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — As Bhutan recently celebrated the birthday of their king, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the country’s prime minister came up with a novel idea to commemorate the momentous occasion with a worthy cause.

To tackle the country’s booming stray dog population in a humane manner, Premier Dr Lotay Tshering asked citizens to adopt a stray dog, plant a tree or commit to waste management procedures to celebrate their king’s 40th birthday.

The country celebrated the special occasion on Friday at the Changlimithang stadium where the premier was the chief guest of the event.

Dr Tshering took to Facebook to pay tribute to the king and committed himself to work towards the king’s aspiration for the country.

He also announced several programmes in the areas of economy, education, health and technology to be launched over the period of one year.

Dr Tshering then urged the citizens to plant a tree and care for it, adopt a stray dog or commit to managing waste in the neighbourhood as a birthday gift to the king.

Following the announcement, Bhutanese journalist and mental health advocate Namgay Zam took to Twitter to express her support and announced that she and her fiancé had adopted three strays.

Zam’s post was also flooded with heart-warming comments, mostly praising the meaningful movement by the government and its citizens.

According to several local news reports, the uncontrolled stray population in Bhutan has led to various issues, including increasing dog bite cases.

Authorities have launched several community-based initiatives to tackle the issue in the most humane manner.