An eatery owner in Malaysia was fined RM2,000 (S$650) after he pleaded guilty to killing a dog with a firecracker.
The incident occurred in late January and quickly went viral when photos of the aftermath circulated online.
According to Bernama, the court fined him on 27 Feb and ordered that he be jailed for two months should he fail to pay it.
On 28 Jan, 64-year-old Wong Phan Sang ended a dog’s life after he threw a firecracker at it in Perak, Malaysia.
Source: Ricky Soong on Facebook
Ricky Soong, who heads an animal activist group, shared images of the lifeless dog on the ground along with a screenshot of security footage capturing the incident.
In the post, he said that they filed a police report and requested a thorough investigation.
Source: Ricky Soong on Facebook
According to The Star, the dog’s carcass was later exhumed from its burial site and underwent a post-mortem examination.
Police arrested the man responsible on 30 Jan after an investigation. They apprehended him at his residence, where he surrendered a plastic container which held a lighter and multiple ball-type firecrackers.
In court, the prosecution argued for a heavier sentence, saying that the man should have lodged a complaint with local authorities if he had problems with the dog.
Instead, he resorted to using firecrackers, which could have also posed a danger to other members of the public.
They also remarked that a harsher punishment could set a precedent to deter others from being cruel to animals, citing a rise in animal abuse cases.
Source: Berita Harian
Meanwhile, Wong’s defence said he had acted out of fear. They claimed that a couple of days prior, the dog had attacked Wong while he was riding a motorcycle, causing him to fall.
Then, on the day of the incident, he encountered the same dog. He went to retrieve the firecracker in an attempt to scare it away, but the dog bit it instead and died.
Additionally, although the dog had been wearing a collar, efforts to track down a potential owner have been unsuccessful.
Wong pleaded guilty to the charges and was fined RM2,000 (S$650).
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Ricky Soong on Facebook and Berita Harian.