Every dog has his day: Court sentences policeman for beloved Tia’s death
He was short and always underfoot when activities were held on the campus of Chiang Mai University.
But three years ago, Tia or Shorty, an eight-year-old mixed-breed male dog with short legs could not be found. Soon, hearts were shattered when Tia’s lifeless body was found outside the university.
Justice for the beloved dog was finally served on Tuesday after the court ruled in favour of Watchdog Thailand Foundation (WDT) after a three-year-long battle.
WDT posted on Facebook that Chiang Mai Court had convicted a police corporal for committing an act of brutality against an animal and sentenced him to six months in jail without any chance of suspension.
However, WDT said the court had acquitted the police officer, whose name is withheld, in the second charge of committing theft as there was no evidence against him.
This is one of those rare cases in which the court convicted and sentenced someone for hurting an animal. Normally, Thai courts just slap the perpetrators with a fine.
But the death of Chiang Mai University’s beloved Shorty was a high-profile case, though it is still unclear why the policeman allegedly killed this cute, friendly and much-loved dog.
The suspect has denied charges on both counts – theft at night and committing brutality against an animal.
He claimed that he simply took Shorty on a motorbike ride, but the dog fell off and ended up being run over by his motorcycle. He then hid the dog’s body.
Since he was always around, the students created a special Facebook page for him in 2015 called “Tia Story”.
Two years later, another page was created called “Tia Mor Chor” (mor chor being the Thai initials of Chiang Mai University). This page attracted more than 230,000 likes and over 267,000 followers.
Details of the court ruling were posted on the Tia Mor Chor page, attracting nearly 5,000 likes, some 370 comments and 210 shares as of 2pm on Tuesday.
When the hunt began
Before the ruling, the last photographs of Shorty were posted on May 3, 2020, when the dog had been spotted by his fans.
Tia was not seen in any of his usual spots the following day, and could not be found anywhere else either.
Another search was conducted on May 5, and people began getting worried when he did not show up for his meals for two consecutive days.
A message was posted on the Tia Mor Chor page asking people to respond if they saw the dog.
Another elaborate search was carried out on May 6, but to no avail. Then on the evening of May 7, someone posted a message saying the body of a small dog that matched Tia’s description was found.
The administrators of the page rushed to the scene and confirmed the bad news – Tia was no more.
An autopsy result on the following day said the dog may have been beaten.
A complaint was filed with the local police station and university staff checked security camera footage to see Tia being taken out of the university on a motorbike.
The clip was posted on the Facebook page on May 17, and on the same day, the man in the clip surrendered. He told police that he intended to take Tia to Soi Phra Nang across the university, but the dog jumped off and he ran him over with the front wheel. The man said he hid the dog’s body and was too afraid to post a confession on the page.
