KUALA LUMPUR: Four animal activists have filed legal action against the Besut District Council over the death of Kopi, a stray dog whose video went viral on TikTok.
The activists - Kartini Farah Abd Rahim, S Mukunnan, Hong Hai San and S Shashi Kumar - filed the originating summons at the Kuala Terengganu High Court via Messrs Raj & Sach on Dec 10.
They named the local council and the Terengganu state government as the first and second defendants respectively.
At a press conference here on Monday (Dec 16), lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan, who represented all the plaintiffs, said that the Kuala Terengganu High Court has fixed Jan 15 for case management.
In the originating summons, the plaintiffs are seeking a court declaration that the murder of Kopi by the local council violates Section 29(e) of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) 2015.
They are also seeking a declaration that the act of shooting the stray dog using a firearm by the council is in violation of Section 30(1) and the shooting under Section 30(2) of the AWA is prohibited.
This is because Section 30(1) stipulates that shooting using a firearm against any dogs, cats or other animals is not allowed and that it is only sanctioned by the veterinarian in an emergency or for disease control purposes.
Kartini Farah, who affirmed an affidavit in support, said that the residents around Besut were shaken at about 1.30am on Oct 6 by the sound of several gunshots.
The residents, who went out to investigate, saw three officers driving around the area in a pick-up truck. After the shootings ended, the locals found Kopi lifeless and left behind with shot wounds.
Kartini Farah said the council had issued a statement on Oct 13, citing that the shot on Kopi was done in accordance with the law and the standard operating procedure in handling stray dogs.
However, a Facebook account "My Forever Doggo" shared a video post with a 52-second duration that showed Kopi died from serious injuries.
Kopi became a four-legged celebrity after one of her feeders Abby Razali uploaded a video of the dog playing with a kitten on TikTok in March this year.
