Outcry over discovery of dead strays

Carcasses of canine and cat found near car park of PJ apartment

PETALING JAYA: Animal lovers here are distraught over the discovery of the partially burnt carcass of a friendly brown stray dog found outside the basement car park of Flora Damansara apartment.

K. Chelvi, 47, who is part of a group of voluntary dog feeders in Damansara Perdana, was shocked to find the carcass on Saturday morning and that of a cat near the spot on Tuesday.

“Most strays stay away from peo ple as they tend to be afraid of humans but this one was quite friendly and didn’t mind getting close to people.

“Initially, I thought it died of a fight or natural death but there were clearly charred marks on the body,” the distressed feeder said when contacted.

The Star had received the tipoff from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Selangor about the incident.

Chelvi, who is also a Flora Damansara resident, said some residents unhappy with the presence of strays in the apartment compound had threatened in a WhatsApp group chat that they would kill the dogs before Raya.

She said some of them were afraid that the dogs would bite them.

However, she said the security guards she spoke to did not spot anyone catching, burning or dumping the dog within the compound.

She added that the guards liked the strays as the dogs helped alert them of potential intruders.

Chelvi, a corporate communica tion practitioner, said the carcass was removed the next day, possibly due to the strong stench.

Her immediate concern was to find a home for four puppies that still live around the compound to prevent them from being harmed.

SPCA Selangor chairman Christine ChinRadford said catching and killing strays was not just inhuman but an ineffective solution as new ones would come.

“It’s a vicious cycle. Let’s solve it in a compassionate manner by removing the aggressive ones and neutering the others to reduce the population of strays in the long run,” she said.

She added that the joint management body (JMB) can organise gettoknowyourcommunitydogs session to dispel the fear of dogs among residents.

SPCA Selangor inspector Kelvin Cheah said it was hard to investigate the case as no postmortem could be done without the body.

“We hope to speak to the JMB to persuade them to neuter the strays as a more humane way of dealing with them,” he said.