Man gets 6-month suspended jail term over Molly the husky’s death
Songkhla Provincial Court sentenced a 56-year-old man to six months in prison and fined him 50,000 baht over the death of Molly, a Siberian husky, but suspended the jail term for two years.
- A 56-year-old man was sentenced to six months in prison and fined 50,000 baht for causing the death of Molly, a Siberian husky, by setting her on fire.
- The court suspended the six-month jail term for two years, meaning the offender will not serve time in prison unless he violates the terms of his suspension.
- Additional penalties include one year of probation, a requirement to report to authorities four times, and an order to complete 12 hours of community service.
- The animal rights group Watchdog Thailand Foundation criticized the ruling, arguing that a suspended sentence is not a strong enough deterrent for such a severe act of animal cruelty.
Songkhla Provincial Court recently handed down its ruling in a case that shocked animal lovers, involving “Molly”, a two-year-old female Siberian husky that died from severe burns.
According to a post on the Facebook page of Mueang Songkhla Police Station, the court sentenced the offender to six months in prison and imposed a fine of 50,000 baht. However, the jail term was suspended for two years.
The court also placed the defendant on probation for one year, requiring him to report to authorities four times, and ordered him to complete 12 hours of community service.
The verdict followed an incident in February 2026, when Molly reportedly escaped from her home before being set on fire by a 56-year-old man in Pawong subdistrict, Mueang district, Songkhla.
A passer-by found the injured dog and helped coordinate urgent medical treatment, but Molly later died. Investigators from Mueang Songkhla Police Station later arrested the offender, identified as Charoen, aged 56, and proceeded with legal action.
He claimed he had acted to protect his fighting cocks after hearing unusual noises from the birds late at night and finding signs that they had been bitten.
Watchdog group says ruling exposes gaps in animal protection
The Watchdog Thailand Foundation (WDT) noted that the ruling meant the defendant would not have to serve time in prison.
The foundation described this as a painful reality for animal lovers, arguing that many people had hoped such a serious animal cruelty case would become a strong enough lesson to deter similar offences. Instead, it added, the outcome was once again a prison sentence that had been suspended.
However, WDT also acknowledged that the judgement confirmed an important principle: animal cruelty is not a minor matter, not a private issue and not an act ignored by the law. The court had imposed both imprisonment and a fine, although the prison sentence would not immediately be enforced.
The foundation argued that Molly’s case reflected a wider problem in Thailand’s animal protection law. Although society had witnessed the cruelty of the case and felt deep distress over it, the actual punishment might still not be strong enough to deter offenders or truly address public concern.
WDT added that Molly could not speak for herself, could not tell the court how much she had suffered, and would never have the chance to return home. What remained, it said, was the responsibility of people not to allow her case to fade into just another news report.
The foundation called for Molly’s case to become a driving force for Thai society to recognise the need for stronger enforcement of animal cruelty laws, as well as legal improvements to ensure penalties better reflect the seriousness of such acts.
