Following the case of an adopted mongrel called Loki who was then euthanised because of apparent aggression, the Animal and Veterinary Services (AVS) had responded that the veterinarians who performed euthanasia on Loki did not breach the Code of Ethics.
Claiming that the mongrel was adopted by a couple back in December 2017 when it was “afraid of loud noises”, “averse to men” and “nervous around children”, the AVS said that he had grown to be about 25kg in 2018 and 2019, and became “more confident and confrontational”.
AVS also claimed that the dog had panic attacks “with no known triggers”, and an increase of bite and attack incidents.
A timeline was also disclosed, describing 12 occasions that occurred before the Loki’s owners opted for euthanasia.
It was revealed that the dog had bitten the owner’s friends and relative, child of the owner’s friends, as well as the owner himself.
As reported on CNA, the owner had discussed with Mount Pleasant veterinary on options like rehoming Loki, rehabilitation with behavioural modification drugs and training, or euthanasia as “last resort”.
It was revealed that Loki was given behavioural drugs with the help from the vet and trainer. The trainer mentioned that it would require another six months of training before Loki could be reassessed.
Following the trainer’s words, the vet then “persuaded” the owners to rehome the mongrel. AVS claimed that the owners failed to find new owners for the dog despite “multiple efforts”.
“We understand that what the owners did was to approach their own acquaintances. We also understand that the trainer himself tried to look for rehoming options and even the vets chipped in,” said the AVS spokesperson.
The process of searching for a new owner ended with an animal shelter in Malaysia, but due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) in the neighbouring country, it was not able to proceed.
“In the end, it was only (an) animal shelter in Malaysia that came back as an option, and unfortunately that couldn’t be put into action because of the COVID-19 situation.”
AVS also revealed that Loki’s owners did not contact Exclusively Mongrels – the shelter where they adopted Loki.
The event that prompted Loki’s euthanasia
The decision to euthanise the dog occurred when his owners had a newborn child this April. The couple noticed that Loki was “uncomfortable and nervous” around the baby.
The dog bit the owner on his lips on 19 April when he was trying to get a cover that the dog was lying on, and the report said that it was something that had been done multiple times before. The owner ended up requiring stitches, a tetanus vaccine and oral antibiotics.
His wife contacted Mount Pleasant clinic the next day, expressing her wish to euthanise Loki by telling the vet that their dog had “attacked a family member”, and that their family’s safety was of “great concern”.
With the vet’s agreement, Loki was euthanised that evening.
In the veterinary’s defence, the AVS expressed that the vet had worked with the owners over several weeks to rehome, train and use modification drugs on Loki.
The AVS also mentioned that there was no evidence of animal cruelty due to the fact that Loki had been observed to get along with his owners “with no evidence of abuse or mistreatment”.
Netizens do not believe Loki’s owners had tried everything
Once the update from AVS was reported by the media, it was flooded with comments by netizens showing their anger against Loki’s owners.
Many questioned the lengths the owners had taken to rehome the mongrel and yet failed to contact Exclusively Mongrels throughout the whole process.
People could not wrap their heads around the fact that the owners did not think of returning Loki to the shelter where they adopted him. Leon pointed out that they went the distance to find a shelter in Malaysia, suggesting that it was an act of avenging the mongrel for biting them over the years.
Li Sar had made similar remarks saying that the owners euthanised their mongrel “out of revenge” because they got angry at him about the biting events.
The majority of netizens who expressed their thoughts on this matter do not believe that Loki deserved death when he is a young and healthy dog.
