TAIPING: A 60-year-old motorcyclist was shot in the leg during an operation by the Taiping Municipal Council to shoot stray dogs here. 

Electrical wiring contractor Wan Ah Chye and his wife, riding pillion, were on their way to town to do some shopping when the incident happened at 8.30am yesterday. 

“I saw a dog running in front of my motorcycle and the next moment, I felt a sharp pain in my right calf,” said Wan, a father of two at a hospital here yesterday. 

Wan said he stopped and showed his bleeding leg to the shooters and one of them immediately called for an ambulance. 

“They later decided to take me and my wife in their jeep to the Taiping hospital as I was bleeding profusely. 

“I was told by a doctor that there were two bullet wounds in my leg,” he added. 

Wan was unhappy that he had to undergo surgery at the Selama hospital, which is about 45 minutes away from here. 

Wan hoped the incident would be a lesson to the council to be more careful. 

“The place where I was shot was next to a food court, which is located in a housing scheme,” he said. 

When contacted, council secretary Shahrom Datuk Abd Malek said this was the first time since its stray dog unit was formed 15 years ago that a passer-by had been shot. 

He said three council staff, including two shooters using the 'Ruger’ .22 rifles, were involved in the operation. 

Taiping OCPD Asst Comm Raja Musa Raja Razak said council shooters should ensure there were no passers-by when they going after a stray.