KUALA LUMPUR: The odour of faeces and urine at a cat breeder’s house was so overpowering that an enforcement official had to repeatedly go outside for fresh air, a magistrate’s court here heard yesterday.

Veterinary services assistant enforcement officer Zairol Hisham Abu Hassan said his unit chief Zainuddin Isma Yassin could not stand the stench that filled a section of the house in Sri Petaling, where 30 Persian cats were kept.

The two were at the house on Sept 21 following complaints that Abdul Rashid Mohd Othman, 50, was being cruel to the animals.

Abdul Rashid is facing charges of neglecting four of his cats and causing them misery.

He is accused of failing to give them proper treatment, resulting in the cats suffering from skin disease and conjunctivitis.

He is charged with committing the offence at his house on Sept 21. If convicted, he can be fined RM200 or jailed six months or both under the Animal Ordinance 1953.

Questioned by DPP Afifuddin Hafifi, Zairol said if a cat’s excrement is not cleaned in the cage, the stench involving many cats “could not be described.”

Asked about the complaints of cruelty against the cats, Zairol said: “I just took four of the 30 cats, as they had symptoms of skin and eye disease.

Zairol said he had asked for the owner to visit or contact their office to produce any medical records for the cats but he did not get any feedback.

“Abdul Rashid also failed to produce these documents to investigating officer Roziman Awang Tahrin,” he said, adding that during the inspection he did not find any cat food where the cats were kept.

At the onset of the hearing, Zairol said he only photographed two cats at the house as his Polaroid camera had enough film for just two shots.

He added that he took four more photographs of the cats at his office.

When defence counsel Robert Devan pointed out that one of the cats in the photographs had thick fur, Zairol said:

“If you observe properly, you can see that the cat has fur just in front of its body. On its back, one can see just skin. I had only two films. Therefore, I focused on that part.

He refuted suggestions that it was a plot by his department and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to frame Abdul Rashid and that the department had substituted the cats with others that had the diseases.

The hearing before magistrate Azniza Mohd Ali continues on Jan 3.

Source: TheStar