The man who earned a THB20,000 bounty for hanging his pregnant dog and six-month-old puppy at a gas station in Chonburi turned himself in to police last night.
In comments to reporters and police, Mana Nattheeprasert, 44, said all the right things and was let go with a gentle slap – nay – a caress on the wrist.
Mana told Banglamung district police he couldn’t resist a sudden impulse to kill the dogs Tuesday morning because they scratched his customer’s car, which he was supposed to take care of.
Mana said he hanged the dogs at the NGV gas station near his home and left to run errands for four hours. When he was back, the dogs were already dead. He said that he then took the dogs down and buried them.
The photos of two dogs hanged to death by a nylon cord created an uproar on the social network as animals activists and people with functioning hearts demanded maximum penalty for Mana: one month in jail and a THB1,000 fine.
But speaking to reporters, Mana said all the right, contrite things.
“It was in the heat of the moment,” he said. “My mind had never thought about killing them. After I did it, I was trembling. I kept asking myself how I could do such a thing. But I admit that I’m wrong. I’m not pressured by people’s outrage. It was my conscience that pushed me to hand myself in.”
That and possibly an upswell of outrage that had people calling for revenge against the man. An animal rights group placed a bounty for his arrest and conviction.
In the end, Mana was fined THB1,000 and released.
Animal activists from Watch Dog Thailand reportedly came to the Banglamung Police Station last night to condemn Mana, who could only wai them and apologized for his mistake, Morning News reported.
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