KAJANG: The video of Samuel Lee pummelling his husky over and over again raised hackles after it went viral on social media last month.
It also landed the professional badminton player in the wrong court, where he was slapped with a huge fine.
Lee, 21, who had pleaded guilty to the offence of beating the dog, was fined RM25,000 in default of six months’ imprisonment by the Sessions Court here yesterday.
Judge Mazuliana Abdul Rashid meted the fine on Lee, who was charged under Section 29(1)(a) of the Animal Welfare Act 2015, which outlines 21 specific acts of cruelty that are prohibited.
Rescued pup: Kitster the husky. — Photo sourced from social media
These include causing or allowing unnecessary pain and suffering, keeping animals chained or tethered using a short or heavy chain and animal abandonment.
It came with a fine of up to RM100,000 or a jail term of up to three years or both upon conviction.
According to the facts of the case, Lee had thrashed the husky named Kitster repeatedly on the balcony of his condominium at Landmark Residence, Kajang, between 12.09am and 12.19am on July 1 this year.
The act was recorded by a neighbour and it eventually found its way onto social media, and made several animal rescuers jump into action.
Kitster was removed from Lee’s home the following day and admitted to a veterinary clinic by rescuers where the canine was found to suffer from extreme fear and trauma.
Veterinary Services Department (DVS) officers had also visited Lee’s home following the incident but the badminton player was not home then.
DVS prosecuting officer Mohd Sharif Sabran asked for a heavy penalty as a deterrent.
He said the case had generated wide coverage and invoked public anger.
Mohd Sharif said this was indicative that the case should be dealt with seriously to take public interest into consideration.
“What the accused had done was very cruel and resulted in the dog becoming depressed.
“A heavy penalty must be imposed as an example and lesson to the public,” he said.
Lee’s counsel S. Rajashree asked for a minimum fine on the grounds that he was a professional badminton player and had family commitments.
Meanwhile, DVS head of Animal Welfare section Dr Marzuna Md Yunus said the department had followed the required procedures when investigating the case.
“There were many alleging that the DVS was not doing enough to prosecute the wrongdoer.
“But they must understand that we cannot randomly share information on our progress to prevent the case and investigations from being compromised,” Dr Marzuna said when contacted.
She said the DVS had embarked on securing sufficient evidence to fortify its case against Lee as well as prepared the necessary documents to support the evidence.
