(MY) brutal killing of dog

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Tuesday October 3, 2006-The Star

 

Mayor defends killing of dog in school

 

*IPOH:* Officers from the Ipoh City Council shot dead a stray dog in a

secondary school compound here at the request of its principal, said Datuk

Bandar Datuk Mohamad Rafiai Moktar.

 

He said the principal had written several letters asking the council to get

rid of the dog as it had been lurking in the school for some time.

 

The school head had stated that the dog posed a " nuisance " and that it was

diseased, the mayor said.

 

" Actually, we did not want to shoot the dog there because it was a school

compound, but the headmaster insisted, and she even arranged for the guard

to make sure the dog didn't run away, " he said yesterday.

 

Mohamad Rafiai was responding to an outcry by a Form Five student, who wrote

a letter to *The Star* claiming the council shot the dog in the abdomen in

front of the school's chemistry lab on Thursday.

 

At that time, over 100 students were attending classes in the block where

the chemistry lab was.

 

According to the student, the stray died slowly and painfully as the dog

shooters failed to kill it with a single shot.

 

In defending his men's action, the mayor said they did not fire a second

shot as they were inside a school.

 

Vice-president of the Ipoh Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

(ISPCA) Dr Goh Hue Lang criticised the council for the shooting.

 

" What if the bullet had gone astray? Moreover, when children see an animal

being hurt, their instinct is to run towards the dog to try and rescue it, "

she said.

 

Dr Goh said the school or the council should have contacted the ISPCA, which

would have taken the dog away.

 

She added that she had spoken to the school principal, who was apparently

upset over the incident.