NAKHON RATCHASIMA -- The medical student accused of killing his Pomeranian puppy with an overdose to win compensation from a delivery firm will be invited for questioning this coming week, police said.
Pol Maj Mongkol Kuptisirirat, an investigator at Pho Klang police station in Muang district, said on Sunday that he had questioned three witnesses after receiving a complaint from veterinarian Ratchaphum Khieosanam, chief of the animal health section of the Nakhon Ratchasima Livestock Office, on Saturday.
Mr Ratchaphum said he suspected the student had fed the puppy with medicine for hypertension in men. Twelve pills were found in the dog's stomach when it was examined at an animal clinic in Muang district.
The student hired a delivery company to take his Pomeranian from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima. On arriving in Nakhon Ratchasima, the student brought his pet to the clinic for examination and the veterinarians there found the dog had died.
The autopsy revealed an excessive amount of medicine in the stomach, raising suspicons that the dog had been drugged by the student to claim compensation from the delivery company.
The animal clinic posted the finding on Facebook.
Mr Ratchaphum said he file the complaint because he wanted the police to investigate whether the student had violated the Cruelty Prevention and Welfare of Animals Act of 2014.
Pol Maj Mongkol said he had questioned two veterinarians and a nurse at the clinic.
He would on Monday send the 12 pills found in the dog for a laboratory test at the 9th Medical Science Centre in Nakhon Ratchasima. He would also invite the driver of the delivery vehicle and the medical student to testify in the same week.
If the student did not show up, a summons would be issued for him to report to the police, Pol Maj Mongkol said.