PETALING JAYA — Malaysian authorities have arrested a 40-year-old man who allegedly killed five stray dogs using an Airsoft pistol.

The man, a contractor from Bandar Saujana Putra, was seized by the Shah Alam police at around 11.40pm on Tuesday (Oct 29), Malaysian news agency The Sun Daily reported.

Shah Alam district police chief Assistant Commissioner Baharudin Mat Taib said that the man claimed to have shot the dogs out of revenge as they had attempted to attack his two sons who are aged seven and 12.

He added that during investigations, the police seized a Sig Sauer P226 Airsoft pistol, a pressurised air tank and five Airsoft bullets from the suspect’s car.

Asst Comm Baharuddin said the suspect was discovered with the help of information from the public and security camera recordings.

The suspect was remanded for three days for further investigations, he added. 

According to Malaysian news agency The Star, the Shah Alam police received a report about the incident from a woman who frequently feeds the dogs.

"She would come to the area daily at around 5pm to feed about 15 stray dogs there because she pitied them. She would drive about 6km from her home to the area to feed them table scraps mixed with dog biscuits,” Asst Comm Baharuddin said.

However, on her visit to Jalan Anggerik Mokara on Sunday, the 49-year-old housewife found three of the dogs dead. Later, she was told by a man that he had found two more dogs dead near a food court in the vicinity. 

The dogs were found bleeding from their noses and ears. Graphic images of the deaths were shared widely on social media, with many netizens speculating that they had been shot. 

The woman who found the dogs buried them with help from a friend, said Asst Comm Baharuddin, who added that the remains were later exhumed and sent to the Universiti Putra Malaysia Teaching Hospital to determine their cause of death. AGENCIES