A shocking discovery has been made in Sitiawan, where dozens of dog carcasses and live puppies were found in a shallow pit after being reportedly captured and shot by local council officers. Videos and images of the grim scene, allegedly taken by an acquaintance of former Manjung council member Khairil Azhar Khairuddin, show a pit roughly four feet deep, filled with a mixture of decaying and fresh dog carcasses, as well as live puppies trapped among them.

Khairil, a 48-year-old animal activist, exposed the incident through several videos, revealing distressing scenes that have outraged the public and raised serious ethical and legal questions. In one of the videos, Khairil walks with his acquaintance through an area littered with animal bodies, including some dogs still wearing collars indicating they may not have been strays. He claims that the council officers shot the animals and abandoned them in mass graves, a practice he describes as a disturbing "new modus operandi" for managing stray dog populations in the region.

Amidst the dead dogs, puppies can be heard whimpering, some still alive but left unable to escape the pit. In one clip, Khairil and his acquaintance managed to rescue three puppies that had been thrown in with their mother and left to die. In other videos, more dog bodies were found at different sites, with piles of rubbish and plastic waste discarded around them. At one point, Khairil recognized four dogs he had been caring for while awaiting their owners return, only to find them shot dead, their collars still on.

  


The shocking revelations come just weeks after another controversial incident in Terengganu, where a stray dog named Kopi, known for her gentle nature, was shot and left bleeding by local council officers shortly after World Animal Day. Kopi's death went viral on social media, drawing condemnation both domestically and internationally. Datuk Che Mohamad Zulkifly Jusoh, a member of parliament from Besut, defended the action, stating it was in response to public health concerns posed by stray animals. However, many argued the killing breached ethical standards and Malaysia's Animal Welfare Act 2015.

Kampar MP Chong Zhemin responded to both incidents, emphasizing that the Animal Welfare Act prohibits such actions without proper procedures. "According to Section 29(1)(a) of the Animal Welfare Act 2015, you cannot kill a dog like that," he asserted. "Even if its a stray dog, it must be captured humanely." Chong cited the importance of standard operating procedures (SOPs) when managing stray animals and criticized local authorities for failing to adhere to humane capture and treatment guidelines.

However, Besut District Council chairman Sukeri Ibrahim defended his council's approach, asserting that their actions align with both Section 30 of the Animal Welfare Act 2015 and the Dog Licensing By-Laws (Besut District Council) 1990. He clarified that, under the law, any dog licensed or notcan be destroyed if the owner is untraceable. According to Sukeri, the use of firearms in such cases is within the scope of the Housing and Local Government Ministry's SOPs.

Following the Sitiawan revelations, the New Straits Times reached out to Manjung Municipal Council chairman Muhammad Faizal Shah Safian Suri for comment. As of now, he has yet to respond.

The situation has sparked renewed debate over animal welfare laws in Malaysia and the local councils' approach to handling stray populations. Many animal welfare advocates argue for stronger enforcement of humane treatment standards and clearer SOPs across all councils to prevent incidents like this from recurring.

Animal activists, both locally and globally, are calling for immediate action to hold responsible parties accountable and to prevent further cases of inhumane animal treatment. Some are demanding that the government reassess existing laws to ensure they are applied uniformly across the nation, advocating for improved training for council officers on ethical stray management practices.

Source: NST