Council that shot dogs dead to release 24 it caught

 

The council will release the 24 dogs if 12 people come forward to have them licensed as the rules say each person can only register two dogs.

GEORGE TOWN: A local council in Perak that shot dead four dogs has agreed to release another 24 dogs in its custody after residents took it to court over a purported “drive-by” shooting of strays last month.

The four strays were shot dead by the Kampar district council (MDK) officers in an early morning operation on Nov 2 at Taman Kampar Barat. In the operation carried out at 4am, the 24 stray dogs were caught.

Three residents then filed a suit at the High Court in Ipoh on Nov 15, asking the court to declare the shooting illegal, as the council only had the right to impound strays. They also claimed enforcement officers were shooting at the dogs while seated in their pick-up truck.

At the High Court today, MDK said it would release the 24 dogs caught in the drive-by shooting, if 12 people came forward to licence them. Under the council by-laws, only two dogs can be registered to a person, the residents’ lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan told FMT.

He said that earlier, the residents had applied for an injunction to compel the council to release the 24 dogs immediately. However, he said the injunction was withdrawn since MDK had agreed to let them go.

Rajesh said MDK’s lawyers had also asked for a three-week period to strike out the residents’ suit. Judicial commissioner Bhupindar Gurcharan Singh Preet set Jan 19 for case management.

According to the residents’ statement of claim, MDK officers had fired shots at a group of stray dogs while sitting in their pick-up truck. The residents claim the shots awoke the entire neighbourhood at 4am. They later found the pavements outside their homes soaked in blood.

They claimed the four slain dogs were friendly and docile, with most neutered by the residents there, and posed no danger to anyone. The other 24 stray dogs were regularly fed by people in the neighbourhood and were never aggressive, they claimed.

The residents say repeated attempts to get information on the 24 impounded dogs were met with silence, which led them to lodge police reports. They claimed the council had breached its duty by illegally shooting the dogs and killing them, which was against the Animal Welfare Act 2015.

MDK had since claimed that it shot at the dogs, as they were aggressive and had bared their fangs at officers.

The council said its officers had gone out late at night to round up the mongrels following complaints from residents nearby. It also said the Department of Veterinary Services  (DVS) had allowed local authorities’ enforcement officers to be armed with guns for self-defence since July 9 last year.

Arun Ganesh Boopalan appeared for the residents, and Zaizuraimy Abd Rahim represented MDK. - FMT