A chicken rice vendor caught in a viral video beating and stabbing street dog “Kao” to death was sentenced to two months detention yesterday.
On April 14, Anon Meksan, 34, was seen in a CCTV clip beating a dog chained-up in front of an apartment building in Ramkhamhaeng Soi 60/2. He then stabbed the dog many times, killing it.
The man confessed and the Northern Bangkok Municipal Court ruled that he had violated the 2014 Animal Cruelty Act.
Though his initial sentence was four months imprisonment, his sentence was commuted to two months detention as the court deemed that Anon had acted in rage after finding out that the dog had bitten his son.
He was also granted temporary release after his family paid THB18,000 to take him home.
Anon will either serve his sentence in a detention facility, which could be a police station of the department of correction, or in his own home.
According to a petition on Change.Org to bring justice to Kao, he was a street dog who was regularly fed by locals in the area.
Kao would sleep in front of a salon and provide company to the security guard at the apartment. He never attacked anyone until he was threatened by the chicken rice vendor’s son, who gestured like he was going to hit him.
Following the incident, Kao was kept chained up and muzzled until he was beaten and killed.
The animal activists of the Soi Dogs Foundation, who were also present in the courtroom, said that they were disappointed with the sentence. They expected Anon to receive two years of imprisonment and a THB40,000 fine.
Meanwhile, Anon’s wife said the family had to endure public criticism over the incident and were pressured to move their chicken rice stall to the upcountry.
She asked the public for compassion so that her family can make their living in peace, reported Thai PBS.
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