Alarm over fate of abused canines

Apartment unit owner removes dogs he left locked up without food or water

KLANG: As animal lovers prepared to rescue five dogs locked up in an apartment in Taman Sri Sentosa Jaya here, the canines were removed by the unit owner.

But relief soon turned to worry when the group learned that the person who took the dogs out was actually the one who had locked them up, apparently without food or water, last week.

According to canine welfare project Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better (MDDB) adoption coordinator Christine Lai, the unit owner likely rushed to remove the dogs after their plight was highlighted by The Star Online yesterday.

“We are now concerned that the dogs have gone from the frying pan into the fire because we believe the man is not a dog lover,” said Lai.

Apartment resident Doris Petrus, who lives on the same floor as the unit in question, had reached out to MDDB after she could no longer bear to hear the dogs wailing in the empty unit.

Petrus claimed the tenant had issues with his landlord over unpaid rental, which led to him being thrown out.

“The owner then prevented the tenant from taking his pets and double-locked the grille door of the unit,” she said.

Petrus claimed that the landlord, said to be from Rawang, Selangor, did this to pressure the tenant into settling the amount due.

Earlier yesterday, Petrus and an MDDB representative lodged separate police reports at the Sentosa community police stati on.

Lai said the reports were lodged to inform the police that they would be cutting the locks to remove the dogs.

“But now we are concerned about the dogs’ welfare as they are in the hands of the same person who locked them up.

“A dog lover would never do that. Locking the dogs up without food or water and allowing them to stink in their own faeces and urine is utmost cruelty,” Lai said, adding that the unit owner had blatantly breached the Animal Welfare Act 2015.

She said MDDB would be initiating a mass police report exercise in order to bring the landlord to book.

“We were told by a lawyer that we could lodge a report against the man as the landlord of the said premises, even if we do not have details of his identity,” she said.

Lai also urged the owner of the dogs to contact MDDB at its Facebook page facebook. com/MalaysianDogsDeserveBetter/

We are now concerned that the dogs have gone from the frying pan into the fire because we believe the man is not a dog lover. Christine Lai