Court reserves judgment on ‘drive-by’ shooting of stray dogs

 

Residents filed a suit at the Ipoh High Court on Nov 15, asking the court to declare the shooting of four stray dogs illegal as the Kampar district council only had the right to impound strays.

PETALING JAYA: The Ipoh High Court has postponed its judgment pending further submissions from parties in a suit against a local council for the “drive-by” shooting of four stray dogs last November.

“The court has directed parties to file further submissions by Aug 1 on the issue of locus standi of the residents who brought the action against the Kampar district council,” said animal rights lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan.

Rajesh, who is representing the residents, said the local council claimed the Taman Kampar Barat residents had no legal standing to sue them.

The council has applied to strike out the suit.

“This is a public interest case, so the test of locus standi is genuine interest, which the residents have as dog lovers,” he told FMT.

Sachpreet Singh and Amanda Sonia Mathew also appeared for the residents, while Zaizuraimy Abd Rahim represented the local council.

On Nov 2, Kampar district council enforcement officers shot dead four stray dogs in a 4am operation. They also caught 24 other stray dogs.

Three residents then filed a suit at the Ipoh High Court 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.

On Dec 16, the Kampar district council told the court it would release the 24 dogs if 12 people came forward to get licences for them. Under the council by-laws, only two dogs can be registered to a person.

The residents said 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.

The local council then claimed that its officers shot the dogs as they were aggressive and had bared their fangs at them.

Rajesh said the 24 strays have yet to be released by the local council. - FMT