Mall dog killer surrenders to police

Mall dog killer surrenders to police

The man who was caught on video shooting a dog dead outside a shopping mall in Bangkok surrendered to police on Thursday and faced three charges which he denied.

The man, identified as Wicha Boonlualak, 32, accompanied by his lawyer and relatives, met officers at Chok Chai police station. 

Police charged him with animal cruelty, owning and carrying a gun and ammunition in public without permission and firing a gun in public without reasonable cause.

The incident, happened at night on Jan 13, was caught on a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera outside Imperial World Ladprao shopping mall. The footage was later uploaded to social media sites and has sparked outrage among internet users.

The video shows a grey sedan trying to run over one of the three stray dogs on a road in front of the shopping mall. The dogs then chased down the vehicle. The driver suddenly stopped the car, killed an 11-year-old bitch with a .9mm pistol, and left the area.

Mr Wicha denied the charges brought against him during police interrogation. He only admitted that the car appearing on the video belonged to him, and would give more details of what happened in court. 

Police took Mr Wicha to the Criminal Court  to seek permission to detain him pending questioning of a witness and checking the suspect’s criminal record. 

He was subsequently released on bail after the court approved his request and offer of a 150,000-baht surety.

The slain dog, known as Darng Khao or Sue Bua, was owned by Panita Soontharat, 45, police said. Ms Panita, accompanied by Roger Lohanan, secretary-general of the Thai Animal Guardians Association, came to  the Chok Chai police station to talk to officers in charge of the case after learning about Mr Wicha’s surrender.

Mr Wicha reportedly works in a law-related field and is living near the Imperial World Ladprao shopping mall. He was said to have regularly ridden his motorcycle or driven a car past the area where Mrs Panita’s dog and other stray dogs were roaming. The dogs often barked at or chased at him and this may lead to the fatal shooting of the bitch.

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