IMAGINE your pet dog is captured by a group of angry men. You rush to save it. You beg them to release it.
They refuse. Your dog dies. And then you are charged in court for “animal cruelty”.
This is what happened to S. Roghini Devi from Port Klang, the owner of canine Rocky who died tragically on July 29.
Some three weeks later on Aug 20, she was accused of “unreasonably” pulling Rocky while a noose was around its neck, thus causing “unnecessary pain or suffering” to the animal.
In other words, Roghini strangled her own dog. Does that make sense? This charge at the Klang Sessions Court was under Section 29(1)(e) of the Animal Welfare Act (additionally, Roghini faces another for keeping a dog without license).
It’s a serious crime punishable by a fine of between RM20,000 and RM100,000 or up to three years jail or both.
Any neutral observer would have asked why would she be “unreasonably” cruel to her own beloved dog? Was it because she was trying to rescue it?
A so-called stray eradication vigilante Muhammad Shah Idham Nor Haikal Shaharom a.k.a. Shah was also charged under the same law for animal cruelty with a noose attached to a pole which is the standard dog catching tool used by the Klang Royal City Council (MBDK).
He was part of a council dog catching operation which had 50 “invited volunteers” joining in. The problem is they were angry after an incident where a young man lost control of his motorbike after he tried to outrun some strays chasing him.
He fell, hit his head and was in a coma for a week. As I’ve explained before, it’s a mistake to try to run from dogs. Plus the man was probably not wearing a helmet.
Why didn’t they release Rocky?
The whole Rocky tragedy could have been avoided if Shah and his fellow dog catchers had just let go when Roghini came to beg them to release it. Like a Tamil movie, she even threatened to harm herself if they did not. She was clearly desperate to save her beloved pet.
But no mercy was shown. Roghini now finds herself charged for being “cruel” to her own dog.
An impartial person would ask, “who has the power in such situation?” An Indian lady or a group of men who were seen on a video behaving like bullies? They were heard shouting at her even when Roghini was wailing and crying.
Would they have let go of the dog if a Mat Salleh in swanky Bangsar, KL, had asked for its release? This raises both disturbing ethnic and class issues.
Ugly racism was brazenly shown when an Utusan Malaysia news report was posted on Facebook about Roghini pleading “not guilty” to a second charge of having a dog without a license. Many called her a “snake”.
Isn’t such hate speech a crime? Would they say the same things if cats had been caught, tortured and killed?
Two Indian men killed a cat by stuffing it into the dryer of a self-service launderette near Batu Caves, Selangor. In 2019, they received jail sentences of 34 months and two years each.
Dog catchers out of control?
What about the killers of Rocky? How could the few MBDK officers control the 50 or so angry “volunteers” in the nighttime operation? I really hope the officers did not encourage anybody to be cruel. It all seemed like the wrong procedure.
Did some turn into violent vigilantes? Neow Choo Seong, the BN Youth communications director from MCA said reports allege that Rocky was choked with a neck noose before it was beaten to death.
If this is true, then the operation had become like a “lynch mob” in a cowboy movie.
Klang mayor Datuk Abd Hamid Hussain set the stage for blaming Roghini by claiming she had “acted aggressively” by trying to cut the noose around Rocky’s neck.
In other words, her desperate efforts to save Rocky were deemed “aggressive” while the mob around her was not. This is weird.
The mayor also insisted that the dog hunt was conducted in line with SOPs (standard operating procedures) by the Housing and Local Government Ministry because the nooses met “ministry standards”.
But he declined to comment whether the dog had been beaten. Claiming SOP compliance by looking only at the equipment used while ignoring what an angry group may have done, is an artful avoidance of blame.
Faulting owner as aggressive to her pet
It dances around the core issue that MBDK may have made a mistake in “inviting” 50 angry men for the hunt. Minister Nga Kor Ming from DAP has said little apart from announcing a “thorough probe” on Aug 1.
What are the results after three weeks? Will he take action at what looks like the wrong SOP?
Even before the mayor’s denial of blame, many online were blaming Roghini for being “aggressive”.
In contrast to Nga, former DAP Klang MP Charles Santiago contended that this was “absurd” as anyone who saw an animal being choked, beaten and dying would naturally attempt to intervene.
STATEMENT: Justice for Rocky: Animal Cruelty Must Not Go Unpunished
Hundreds of men allegedly gathered outside a home, tied a rope around a street dog’s neck, choked him & beat him to death. The family pleaded w them to stop as they had cared for Rocky since he was a puppy.
1/ https://t.co/o7jctM9T7R— Charles Santiago (@mpklang) July 31, 2026
“Calling her ‘aggressive’ shifts attention away from the real issue: that a dog died cruelly while in the custody of enforcement officers as its caretaker pleaded for mercy,” he justified on Aug 1.
Instead of addressing the conduct of those involved, the council has chosen to vilify the very person who tried to save a life.
Added the three-term lawmaker who is also an economist: “Every attempt to deflect responsibility will only deepen public outrage and further erode confidence in the council’s ability to carry out its duties humanely.
Sense of compassion missing
Can we please have more kindness and compassion? Islamic cities such as Istanbul, Teheran, Cairo, Rabat (Morocco) have transitioned from the Catch & Kill method of controlling stray dogs and to the more humane Catch & Neuter approach.
Penang has a similar “zero kill” policy for strays.
The Queen of Selangor has repeatedly urged local authorities in the state (controlled by the Pakatan Harapan state government in Shah Alam, mind you) to be kinder to strays.
She had been ignored before. But finally, action is being taken, probably because Rocky has become a political issue that’s too big to be swepy under the carpet.
So on Aug 17, it was announced that Klang’s stray dogs will be caught, neutered and kept at a 2.5-hectare industrial site in Pulau Indah while awaiting adoption.
Well, better late than never. But concerns remain:
- Will this really happen? Or is it just something to placate angry voters till after the elections?
- Dogs were starved like concentration camp prisoners down to skin and bones at a Selangor dog pound in 2023. Has this been improved?
- Why is an NGO asked to pay for neutering when this more humane control of strays is a public service to taxpayers?
There has been a tsunami of hatred online against both dogs and dog lovers. It doesn’t look pretty.
One can only hope they will heed the advice given by the Selangor ruler on Aug 14 which called on Muslims to always show compassion towards all animals, including strays and wildlife. This was in line with the Friday sermon in mosques titled “Ihsan Terhadap Mahkluk Allah”. (Kindness towards God’s creatures)
His Royal Highness has posted on Facebook that Prophet Muhammad placed great emphasis on compassion towards animal and Islam teaches its followers to treat animals well by providing them with food and water – or at the very least – not mistreating any animal created by Allah. – Aug 21, 2026
Main image credit: Kosmo
