KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 — Many Malaysians were appalled by an online video in which a man could be seen “washing” a puppy in a washing machine in Hong Kong recently, but here, a more terrible act of animal cruelty has taken place when ten dogs were found poisoned in a Bukit Bintang car park last week.
The pack had made the car park their home for almost five years, and a group of office workers, who had been caring for them regularly, were distraught to learn of their death.
“We just managed to get one adopted and were in the process of relocating the rest,” one of the workers, who only wished to be known as Mei, said.
“I noticed the dogs after I started working here. There were other people already feeding the dogs. We formed a group and everyday at least five of us would feed them. Others would contribute in terms of food and supplies,” she said.
At the car park there is a small abandoned building with empty cages, old newspapers, a container of biscuits and a few unopened tins of wet dog food — remnants of the home that the workers had provided for the dogs.
“Recently, one of our colleagues noticed City Hall officers in the car park chasing a dog,” said a worker from another office, who wished to be known as Choi.
“That colleague immediately called the rest of us and we negotiated with the officers to give us more time to relocate the dogs,” she said.
“We also met with the person who had complained about the dogs and explained the situation.”
On Thursday, the volunteers were shocked when they found two of the dogs dead under some abandoned cars at the car park.
On Friday, they found the carcasses of another six, followed by two more on Saturday.
The group managed to send three dogs to a veterinary surgeon, who managed to save them.
A chicken head and a bluish substance, suspected to be poison, were found near the carcasses.
A few dead crows, believed to have consumed the poisoned food, were also found nearby.
The group lodged a report at the Jalan Tun Razak police station.
A frequent user of the car park, Selvi Chelliah, 46, said the dogs made her feel secure because they would follow her to her car when she finished work late.
“They would follow me to my car, then just sit there until I leave,” she said.
“I was saddened when I heard they had died. It was cruel to have them killed like this.”
The carcasses were sent for cremation at a pet’s memorial and the ashes were being kept by the group.
Meanwhile, the man in the video of the puppy in the washing machine was reported to be on the run from Hong Kong authorities and believed to have fled to mainland China.
He had revealed in a Facebook post that the dog had died in the washing machine.
