The owner of two mongrels that attacked an Irish tourist is willing to surrender the canines to the state Veterinary Department

Farm owner to surrender dogs to Veterinary Dept

GEORGE TOWN: The owner of two mongrels that attacked an Irish tourist is willing to surrender the canines to the state Veterinary Department today.

The owner, who was only identified as Teoh, said it was the right thing to do.

“Although it is sad that they may need to be put to sleep, it is the right thing to do. I will also help the victim’s friend to contact his family and to assist in the funeral arrangement,” he said yesterday.

Teoh said the canines were fed with dog biscuits instead of meat as he did not want them to be aggressive.

He said his wife saw two of their four mongrels – a male and a female – attack Maurice Sullivan, about 50m from their house.

“My wife saw Sullivan trying to escape but the two dogs chased after him. They bit his ears, hands and legs. She tried to pull the dogs away but to no avail,” he said, adding that his wife suffered light injuries on her fingers and legs.

The 41-year-old farm owner said Sullivan, whom he only met 24 hours earlier, had played with the dogs on Saturday.

He said they had been rearing the dogs for two years and always kept them in the cage after being fed in the morning.

Describing the male one as friendly and the female dog as shy, Teoh said they started rearing the dogs to look after the farm because of wild boars and pythons in the vicinity.

Penang Municipal Council public health standing committee alternate chairman Tay Leong Seng said its enforcement personnel were investigating the reasons behind the attack and whether the owner was licensed to rear the dogs.

“Under our new bylaws, an owner can be fined RM2,000 to RM3,000 but this has yet to be gazetted. So, under our 1977 provision, we will only have the authority to catch the dogs and put them to sleep after conducting an investigation,” he said.

Meanwhile, Penang SPCA administrator Lily Leng said it was rare to see a human being bitten to death by dogs.

“Unless the dogs have rabies or are attacked, they are usually tame,” she said.

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