IGP’s help sought in missing cats case
Hundreds of pet lovers and animal rights activists will rally outside Bukit Aman this evening to seek Inspector-General of Police, Ismail Omar’s, assistance in recovering 100 missing cats that could be fighting for their lives. The cats are among the hundreds that were left under the care of Petknode, an animal boarding facility in
Damansara Damai, over the week-long Hari Raya Aidilfitri break. The owners returned over the past weekend to discover that their pets had been abandoned for nine days without food or water, and were covered in their own waste. Thirteen of the 300 rescued cats are dead and many more are missing.
Petknode owners, Yushairi Khairuddin and Shahrul Azuwan Adanan, were brought in for questioning on Sunday evening but were released just hours later without being charged. And now they are refusing to reveal the whereabouts of the 100 more missing cats. To make matters worse Sharul’s family reportedly cleaned out the Petknode premises and destroyed the evidence last night.
Over 100 activists and owners stormed the Damansara Damai police station late yesterday evening to demand that the police take immediate action in finding the missing felines and persecuting the duo. Fingers have also been pointing at the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) which has taken over the case.
But lawyer and PKR vice-president N Surendran told FMT that although the DVS is investigating the cruelty charge, the police are still responsible for investigating the missing cats case. “The police are working on some leads but the problem is that the culprits have been released,” he said after joining the group at the police station last night.
“When DVS took over the investigations the police washed their hands off the case and now the men are free to do whatever they want. The two should have been held further.”He added that the distraught group is demanding that the duo be charged with cheating and theft which carry a heavier penalty than a cruelty charge.
“But the Criminal Investigation Department has yet to classify it as such so I hope they do it soon,” he said. “This is a clear cut case of cheating and theft, and we want to see these monsters behind bars.”
“We also want the police to devote their full resources into locating the missing cats hence why we’re trying to meet the IGP later. It’s a race against time to save the cats which may be starving to death.”
Surendran further expressed dissatisfaction with the police for failing to take swift action when the issue first broke on Sunday morning.
