NO action will be taken against a Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) officer who struck a senior citizen during a dog catching operation last month, the council said.

In a statement today, MBPJ said this is because the incident, which took place on March 22, was “unintentional”. 

Patrick Khoo, the senior citizen involved in the scuffle, lodged a police report against the dog catchers, alleging he was injured during the process.

The incident was caught on camera and widely shared on social media.

However, it was Khoo who was charged in court with obstructing the MBPJ officer from performing his duties. 

“No charges were laid against the MBPJ officer because the tool used to catch dogs had accidentally hit the complainant’s face,” the council said in a statement today.

Last month, videos of a dog-catching operation in Taman Kanagapuram in Petaling Jaya went viral on social media after Khoo, who was trying to protect a group of stray dogs by bringing them onto his property, claimed to have been injured by an MBPJ officer.

Following the incident, several animal activists, as well as Petaling Jaya lawmaker Lee Chean Chung, demanded an explanation from the city council.

The council then said it will conduct an internal investigation on the officer involved.

Despite allowing the police to carry out a separate investigation into the matter based on Khoo’s report, MBPJ said through its internal investigation, it made recommendations to improve procedures and methods of carrying out dog-catching operations.

“Low-risk operation will require staff to be fitted with body cameras, and photos will be taken by a superior (officer).

“For high-risk operations, they will be carried out with the police.

“To ensure the process of catching stray dogs is more transparent, MBPJ will invite NGOs and resident associations to be part of the operations,” the council said.

MBPJ said it conducted 12 dog-catching operations in Taman Kanagapuram, Petaling Jaya, claiming it received 16 complaints on stray dog issues from 2020 to March 2023.

Thirty-nine stray dogs were caught successfully, it said.

The council said a complainant made the report to MBPJ about the strays on March 20, fearing it may cause harm to children as the school season had begun. – April 11, 2023.