Cats dumped at temple mauled by dogs

Cats dumped at temple mauled by dogs

Songkhla: Residents of a community in Hat Yai district in this southern province are preparing to file criminal charges against the driver of a pickup truck who allegedly abandoned three dozen cats at a temple where most were killed by dogs there.

Suchart Maneechote, village head of Moo 6, said the villagers found the mass deaths of the cats at Wat Thung Ngai abhorrent and are gathering footage from surveillance cameras to support a complaint to be lodged with police at Ko Hong police station.

According to Mr Suchart, a total of 33 cats, six of them kittens, were found dead at the temple early on Monday morning. An initial examination suggested the animals were attacked and killed by dogs.

He said there are dozens of stray dogs at the temple and it is highly likely the cats were mauled by the dogs.

Only three cats were found alive at the temple later on.

Mr Suchart said the villagers suspect the cats were taken to the temple in a pickup truck which was seen entering the grounds at 2am on Dec 10 before the carcasses of cats were found by a villager.

One of the monks said he heard dogs barking early on Monday morning, but did not go to check.

Mr Suchart also said the community will ask the temple to control the population of stray dogs and keep them in a designated area for the safety of visitors to the grounds.

Thana Tohram, leader of a local animal rescue foundation known as the Democats, said the cats might have been sedated when they were abandoned.

"More would have survived if they were alert. Cats are hard to catch," she said.

She said the cats were likely to have been strays caught at a market.

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