The 40-year-old woman, who wanted to be identified only as Ooi, said she and family members had only found out about the matter from a friend who watched a television news programme.

“The department should have informed me personally before going to the media because the DVS action resulted in me and family members being harassed by strangers who have been enquiring about the matter.

“Yesterday, a staff member from the department called to say they would come to my house today to inform me about it,” she told reporters in Kuala Sepetang here today.

Ooi also said she found it strange that none of the state DVS staff who came to her house had informed her about her dog’s cause of death but instead were just checking the house perimeter.

“I feel my dog might have been attacked by another dog as it had shown no sign of having any kind of disease,” she said.

Ooi’s dog died last Thursday, eight days after biting her daughter and niece, aged 11 and 12.

She said the children were now in the pink of health and had begun attending school today.

Yesterday, Perak Health, Public Transport, Non-Muslim Affairs, National Integration and Kampung Baru Committee chairman Dr Mah Hang Soon confirmed the two girls, who were bitten by the dog on July 4, were free of any rabies symptoms.