KUALA LUMPUR: A recent viral video of Kulim Municipal Council dog-catchers torturing a whimpering stray dog has made funnyman Harith Iskander see red.
The 54-year-old artiste who is also an animal lover, hit out at the dog-catchers in an Instagram post of the video yesterday, and urged police to take stern action against them for cruelty to animals.
"What you see happening here is a crime. Cruelty towards animals violates the Animal Welfare Act 2015, and is punishable by a fine of RM20,000 to RM100,000 and imprisonment up to three years. Don't these dog-catchers know the law?" he said in his caption to the video.
Harith added that he was glad that Kedah police chief Kamarul Zaman Mamat was conducting an investigation into the incident under Section 428 of the Penal Code.
"I will be following this case closely to see what happens."
The brief video showed three dog-catchers from the council pinning down the dog with a large, fork-like object.
Netizens sympathised with the stray dog, and agreed with Harith that action should be taken against the cruel dog-catchers.
Singer Ning Baizura said: "I cannot watch this. It's too inhuman. So painful to hear the dog's cry. Let's viral it."
Radzuan said: "Dogs are God's creatures too. We must not be cruel to them."
Bill said: "These cruel people must be severely punished. There will be no justice if they aren't."
The stray dog was caught in Taman Tiram, Kulim last week, during an operation to catch stray animals by the council.