Student misses summons in puppy death
A second summons has been prepared for a sixth-year medical student suspected of poisoning his Pomeranian puppy to death after he failed to report to investigators yesterday.
Suebpong Karuna, deputy chief of investigators at Sutthisan police, yesterday said Phattarapong Songsapkul, a Mahidol University medical student, will be summoned for a second time to acknowledge a charge of attempted fraud next Tuesday. If he fails to appear for questioning again, the evidence in the case will be submitted in court to seek an arrest warrant against him.
Pol Lt Col Suebpong said Mr Phattarapong had failed to answer his first summons, which had given him until 4pm yesterday to report to police, adding his failure to show up breached Section 66 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
But he said police do not have any evidence that the suspect has in fact received the summons, which was sent by post to his address and to a police station overseeing the area in which his house is located.
Two weeks ago, Mr Phattarapong hired PetMovers to transport his Pomeranian from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchsima.
He also purchased a 50,000-baht accident insurance policy from them.
After arriving in Chok Chai district, the student asked a driver to take the dog to Centre Pet Hospital as it appeared to be depressed and suffering from flatulence.
It was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
The student demanded 50,000 baht in compensation but the company refused it, saying the circumstances of the Pomeranian’s death did not meet the conditions stipulated in its insurance policy.
The company subsequently asked the hospital to conduct an autopsy on the dog, which revealed drugs inside its stomach.
Banchong Kittirattrakarn, director of the Regional Medical Sciences Centre 2 overseeing the province, did not identify the ingredients in the pills but confirmed they were not vitamins or dietary supplements, adding the findings would be conveyed to police by today.
In a separate matter, Watchdog Thailand and transport firm HSK Express International and Service Co have also lodged complaints against Mr Phattarapong alleging animal cruelty and fraud, concerning a different incident that resulted in the death of another dog.