Two men face animal cruelty charges in Nong Khai

Tha Bo police summoned Khamdee Khottha, 50, early yesterday after an allegation that he had tortured and injured a pet dog belonging to his neighbour Jomsri Khamphukaew. 

Case investigator Pol Lt Col Kittithat Sihachai quoted Khamdee as saying that the dog went to his home to eat food that he had poured out for chickens, so he tried to shoo it away but it wouldn't go. So he threw a knife at it, which hit the dog’s face. He told police and insisted he didn’t intend to kill the dog. 

But his neighbour Jomsri alleged that the accused man had also killed a dog before. Police said Khamdee admitted he had killed a female pet dog because she often attracted male dogs in the mating season, which caused noises, so he beat it with a wooden club until it was dead, Kittithat said. So police would gather evidence to file a case in court as per the new law, he said.

Tha Bo superintendent Pol Col Somchai Sanguansakpakdee said while Jomsri later said she didn’t want to press a charge against her neighbour, police had to proceed. The crime was punishable by up two years in prison and a fine of up to Bt40,000, he said. Khamdee was released without bail later yesterday.

Later in the afternoon, Tha Bo police also arrested Niwet Muthasahim, a 40-year-old mahout, and impounded his elephant. He faces a charge of animal cruelty, because he took the beast to beg for money in a community area in Nong Khai’s Muang district. 

Kawintra Jaiseu, Jirasak Wongkhamjan