Dog found its own way to window ledge, says owner

KUALA LUMPUR: The owner of the dog, which was found on the ledge of a high-rise apartment at Taman OUG, says he was unaware it had walked away from the balcony and onto the window ledge.

"The owner, a 52-year-old taxi driver, his wife and their two children were actually in the process of moving house.

"While packing up, he put the dog out on the balcony, but didn't notice that the dog had slipped through the metal railings and went onto the ledge several times," said Kuala Lumpur Veterinary Services Department enforcement division officer Masdin Ubin when met at the apartment on Wednesday.

Upon receiving a report from the Selangor Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) on Tuesday night, a four-member team from the department visited the 27th floor of the apartment block at 9am.

Department officer Mohd Subhy Mohd Basaruddin said the dog, a five-year-old male mixed mongrel, appeared healthy and normal.

"The owner was sleeping when we arrived. He had no idea that the case had gone viral, or that his dog walked onto the ledge while being put out on the balcony," he said.

The dog owner explained that his family was moving to their new home in Subang Jaya on Wednesday evening and had placed the dog outside to prevent it from messing up their packed belongings.

On Tuesday, SPCA chairman Christine Chin received a complaint about the dog being left out on the ledge on the 27th floor of an apartment at Taman OUG Parklane.

It came from a person staying across from the apartment unit and the complainant alleged that the owner of the dog had done this many times previously.

Chin had said that the management had issued a warning to the dog owner on Monday but the owner refused to stop.

In the photo, the dog is seen standing on a narrow ledge without any railings.

However, the complainant actually gave the wrong address to the management and the notice never got to the intended person, said Mohd Subhy.

"The dog owner didn't receive them (the notices)," he said.

The department said it had advised the owner against putting the dog out on the balcony in the future.

The department said this was the first time a report was made regarding this case, and had never received such a report in 2016, as claimed by an animal rescue group in a Facebook post that has since gone viral.

"We have double checked our case files and we never received a report about this before," said Mohd Subhy.

He said that the department's protocol required them to act within 24 hours of receiving a report, or a maximum of 48 hours.

Under Animal Act 1953 section 44, those charged with animal abuse stand to be fined RM50,000 or jailed for a year, or both.