Yee: I've been punished in many ways after abusing Furby

Yee and Waldi.

KUALA LUMPUR: Singaporean Yee Kok Chew claims he has paid more than the RM8,000 fine imposed by the court for attacking Furby, the guard dog.

In a short interview here Tuesday (Jan 23), Yee said he had been punished in more ways than one after being caught on camera beating Furby, a chocolate-white male mongrel, last year. 

“I’ve lost my reputation, livelihood, my family thinks I should leave Malaysia,” Yee said.

Last year, US-based outdoor brands Nalgene and Osprey, along with UK-based Craghoppers, had dropped him as a local distributor for their products following social media pressure. 

Yee said his staff had also been threatened and harassed on the phone in the fallout from the incident. 

He said he was looking for new brands and means to continue his livelihood but was not sure if it was possible.

Yee said he knew his actions were wrong and apologised during his guilty plea at the Petaling Jaya magistrate's court on Jan 8.

Yee claimed his three-and-a-half-year-old dachshund, named Waldi, and him had been chased and attacked by Furby many times before the April 2017 incident.

He claimed another neighbour said Furby had lunged at him when the person tried to feed it.

“I actually have no ill feeling for the dog (Furby), or whatever has happened,” he added. 

He said what happened to him was ironic because he loved animals and had rescued them and contributed to animal welfare societies.

Cradling Waldi, Yee said they were very close.

“He sleeps with me...I’m not doing this for show, we cannot be apart,” Yee said, explaining that for trips home to Singapore, Waldi would be placed in a free-roaming dog boarding house.

“We only got 15, 16 years together, so I want to make those years count,” he said. 

“I want to come on record that I’m remorseful, it is something that has happened, it may happen to the best of us, to you or someone you know, and I’ve learned...I’ve learned,” Yee added.