PETALING JAYA: Three dogs abandoned by their owner and left to starve for 10 days were found in a pathetic state amid their own vomit and faeces in a house in Taman Kinrara here. 

The underfed and unkempt dogs – a six-month-old Doberman, a nine-month-old bull mastiff and a one-year-old pitbull cross – were rescued yesterday by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and the Kuala Lumpur Veterinary Services Department. 

Despite their condition, the animals could still move about and bark at strangers. 

The owner had disappeared before the Chinese New Year and the animals had been surviving on food and water provided by concerned neighbours who finally alerted The Star on Wednesday evening. 

SPCA animal inspector Sabrina Yeap said the very thin dogs had been kept alive by the water supplied to them. 

“If they had not had any water, they would have died from dehydration within three or four days. As it is, even with what had been provided, the dogs would not have survived for more than a month. 

“This is a case of negligence and we want cases like this brought to court to educate owners on their responsibility towards their pets,” she said. 

The canines were taken to the SPCA centre where they were cleaned and fed. 

According to Yeap, they gobbled down their food, eating “like hooligans.” 

She added that a veterinarian from the department would examine them today and the dogs would also undergo a blood test to check whether they were incubating any illnesses. 

Yeap said they would be kept at the centre until the owner came to claim them.  

“However, if they are not claimed, we will try to put them up for adoption. If no one adopts them, they may have to be put to sleep,” she said. 

Veterinary Services Department enforcement division head Zainuddin Isma Yatim said the dogs would be seized as the owner had failed to take care of them.  

“We will trace the owner and if necessary, we will charge him in court,” he said.  

He added that such cases had been rampant since last year with people who owed money to loan sharks disappearing and leaving their pets behind.  

Currently, those found guilty of cruelty towards animals are liable to a fine of a mere RM200. 

Zainuddin said the department had proposed that the Act be revised and the fine raised to RM5,000 to serve as a more effective deterrent.