A man in his forties was arrested this week by the police for shooting and killing a stray dog that bit him. His excuse for the gruesome act was that the dog might have had rabies – a concern that was contradicted by a vet.
South Kuta Police Chief I Nyoman Karang Adi Putra said today that the killing took place at the Puri Jimbaran Housing Complex in Badung on Christmas Day at around 3:30pm. That afternoon, FA, 42, was driving his motorbike when a brown dog leapt out of nowhere to chase him and bite his left leg.
“I tried to find [the dog’s] owner. According to some teenagers in the area, the dog was a stray,” FA said in a public statement today after undergoing questioning on Tuesday.
FA went home to retrieve his airsoft gun and returned to the neighborhood demanding to see the dog’s owner, but nobody came forward.
“No one responded. I thought that the dog seemed unhealthy and was a little bit wobbly. So I took aim and shot it,” he said.
FA reportedly shot the dog on its neck and the poor animal ran to a resident’s yard. He chased after the dog and slashed it to death with a sickle. FA claimed that he only pulled out his sickle after the dog attacked him again.
He then took the dog’s carcass and buried it near his house before going to a community health center to get checked for rabies. FA claimed that one of his reasons for killing the dog was to spare others from its bite.
According to the police, however, a veterinarian who examined the dog’s body confirmed on Dec. 27 that the animal was, in fact, rabies-free.
“The perpetrator has confessed to what he’s done and has publicly apologized,” said South Kuta Police Chief Nyoman.
Under Indonesian law, FA may be jailed for up to nine months for animal cruelty. However, a police spokesman told Coconuts Bali that FA was released after he was given a verbal warning.
