Brutal act: Malecdem (left), seen picking up the seemingly lifeless puppy after throwing it off a footbridge. — Photo taken from Facebook
A mall cop at the country’s largest retail chain was fired after he was accused of throwing a puppy off a footbridge.
A Facebook post that has gone viral said the guard from a private security service provider, identified by the Philippine Daily Inquirer as Jojo Malecdem, purportedly grabbed a puppy that two girls were playing with and tossed it off a nearly 5m-high footbridge on Tuesday.
The footbridge connects to SM North Edsa, the Philippines’ second-largest mall owned by the family of the late retail tycoon Henry Sy.
Janine Santos, a witness of the incident, posted photos of Malecdem and the puppy being picked up, seemingly lifeless, on her Facebook account.
The mall cop was trying to shoo the two girls away, Santos said. When the girls refused, he grabbed the puppy instead and hurled it off the footbridge.
“A man confronted the guard, who told him, ‘I don’t care’. All of us who saw what happened were in near tears,” said Santos.
She said initially the puppy did not survive the fall, but later disclosed that it was still breathing when it reached a veterinary clinic, though it might not survive its injuries.
In a statement, the SM Group said Malecdem “has been dismissed and is no longer allowed to service any of our malls nationwide”.
“With extreme sadness, we sympathise with the group of youngsters regarding the incident that happened outside our mall today. As a pet-friendly establishment, we strongly condemn any act that endanger or harm the lives of animals,” it said.
The company’s security contractor that directly employed Malecdem said it had fired him.
The incident as disclosed on Facebook set off outrage online.
“He threw an innocent, poor puppy over a tall footbridge. My blood is f*** boiling!” Twitter user Ramil G. said in a post.
“I hate despicable, inhumane beings,” said another Twitter user, @lucasdancel. Twitter user Lyka Gabrielle said she is now wary of taking her own dog to the mall. “That guard has no heart,” she said.
Tetsuya Makino, also posting on Twitter, said the incident should compel the SM Group to review its procedures when hiring private guards to make sure they are trained to deal with both people and pets.
The Philippine Animal Welfare Society said in a statement it was planning to file a case against Malecdem for animal cruelty. — The Straits Times/ANN
