Late that year, a group of officers were attempting to capture a stray dog in a residential area by placing a metal loop around one of its paws.

Hearing the dog wailing in pain, Koh Tat Meng came down from a nearby apartment building and attempted to free the dog as officers tried to drag it by the paw from a car it was hiding under, pleading for them to let it go free.

In the ensuing argument, one of the officers put his hands on Koh and pressed him against the car.

The encounter was captured on video and it went viral on social media shortly after.

Both Koh and MBSJ filed police reports immediately after the incident. While nothing came of Koh’s report, MBSJ accused him of obstruction under Section 186 of the Penal Code and the case is being tried in a Petaling Jaya magistrates’ court.

Legal adviser to Lawyers for Animal Rights, Rajesh Nagarajan, said today the officer in question had admitted in court to putting his hands on Koh, and this will be the basis for the report that he will lodge at the USJ8 police station in Subang Jaya.

“This officer has now admitted that he assaulted Mr Koh, what more do the police want? We have the video, an admission, and still there have been no charges.

“That is why we will file a police report tomorrow morning, demanding the police investigate this officer and charge him under Section 323 of the Penal Code for assault and battery,” he told FMT.

Rajesh also took aim at MBSJ, claiming that no internal action had been taken against the officer in question.

“If I am an employer and somebody under me commits an offence, it is my responsibility to address it. To this day, none of the officers have faced any action.”

The lawyer also said the officers had not followed protocol when capturing the dog, as strays are supposed to be walked, not dragged, to the transport van to be taken away.

“You can also see in the video that the dog was not placed in the van, but was tossed in like a sack of potatoes.”