KUALA LUMPUR: Four animal activists have filed legal action against the Besut District Council (MDB) over the death of Kopi, a stray dog who had gone viral on TikTok.
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 MDB and the Terengganu state government as the first and second defendants respectively.
At a press conference here yesterday, lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan, who represented all the plaintiffs, said 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 MDB violates Section 29(e) of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) 2015.
They are also seeking a declaration that MDB’s act of shooting the stray dog using a firearm violates Section 30(1) and that such shooting under Section 30(2) of the AWA is prohibited.
This is because Section 30(1) stipulates that using a firearm against any dogs, cats or other animals is not allowed and can only be sanctioned by a veterinarian in an emergency or for disease control purposes.
Kartini Farah, who affirmed an affidavit in support, said residents in Besut were shaken at about 1.30am on Oct 6 by the sound of gunshots.
The residents, who went out to investigate, saw three MDB officers driving around the area in a pick-up truck.
They later found Kopi dead with gunshot wounds.
Kartini Farah said MDB issued a statement on Oct 13, citing that the shooting of Kopi was done in accordance with the law and the standard operating procedure in handling stray dogs.
However, a Facebook page called My Forever Doggo shared a 52-second video clip that showed Kopi died from serious injuries.
Kopi became famous after one of her feeders, Abby Razali, uploaded a TikTok video of the dog playing with a kitten in March.
