PHUKET – A Russian couple in Phuket witnessed a Thai man, suspected of being a policeman, abusing a cat to the point of death, which was confirmed by VDO footage. The Soi Dog Foundation team stated that they will file a complaint with the police after the investigation revealed that the cat was registered with the foundation.
After the Phuket Info Center‘s Facebook page posted pictures of the incident, stating that it was animal cruelty by an officer in the Chalong sub-district of Phuket, many people expressed criticism and condemned the act.
On May 10, 2024, the media met with eyewitnesses, Mr. Stanislav and Mrs. Gromova, who are Russian. They said the incident occurred on May 8 at around 5:00 am in Soi Anusorn, Chalong sub-district (near Villa Market). A man grabbed a white cat and threw it to the ground 2-3 times before throwing it to a pack of dogs to maul. He then picked up the cat, walked away and threw it away. They were very angry that someone would do this to a cat.
Later, the reporters met with the cat’s owner, La-ongdao, who said her cat is named Auan (meaning fatty) and has been living in her house on this street for 5 years. The cat is registered with Soi Dog and is treated by a veterinarian from the foundation when she gets sick.
On the morning of May 8, she went out to look for the cat after not seeing it in the house. She thought it might be playing at the condo in front of the house because it usually plays there. Later, a neighbor she knew gave her a clip that the foreigners had taken, which showed the moment when several dogs bit the cat.
She later then went to the dog owner’s house but did not find the dog owner. She only found his wife who said that her husband had gone to work. She searched for the cat all day but couldn’t find it. Then in the evening, Soi Dog Foundation officers came to meet the cat as scheduled. She then told them that she couldn’t find the cat.
That evening the dogs’ owner came to her and said that the cat was dead and that he would find a new cat to replace it. She said that it could not be replaced and asked for the remains of her cat because she had seen him carry it off in the clamp. He replied indifferently that he had thrown her away.
When she asked him if the cat was dead when he threw it away, he just said that the cat was lying still. She insisted on having the remains returned because she was going to bury it.
Later at 7 p.m., he brought the cat’s remains in a black bag. She touched it and the cat was still soft, so she asked him if he knew that the cat might not have been dead when he threw it away. Why did he torture the cat like this? He just said the same thing again, that the cat was lying still.
La-ongdao said that the Soi Dog Foundation will be the one to file a lawsuit because the cat has been under the care of the foundation for many years. She couldn’t accept what she saw in the clip, and the foreigner at the foundation who also joined in taking care of Auan could not stand it as well.
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