Plaintiffs Dr Kartini Farah Abdul Rahim, S Mukunnan, Hong Hai San and S Shashi Kumar filed the writ action through their solicitors Raj & Sach last week.

Based on court filings made available to the media today, the plaintiffs said the killing of Kopi by a council enforcement officer violated Sections 29(e) and 30(1) of the Animal Welfare Act 2015 (AWA).

They want a declaration that the shooting of animals is prohibited by law unless it falls within the exceptions listed in Section 30(2) of the AWA, including that the killing is authorised by a veterinary authority, is necessary to prevent an imminent danger to human life, or is carried out to control the spread of disease.

The plaintiffs also want a declaration that Sections 9(1) and (2) of the Dog Licensing By-Laws (Besut District Council) 1990 infringe Sections 29(e) and 30(1) of the AWA.

The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Rajesh Nagarajan, said the cause papers were served on the defendants last week. He said a case management would be held before Justice Hassan Abdul Ghani on Jan 15.

In March this year, a video of Kopi playing with a stray cat went viral on social media.

On Oct 6, it was announced on Instagram account “My Forever Doggo” that Kopi had been shot dead by the authorities in Besut, Terengganu, earlier that day during a stray culling operation.

Nine days later, a group of around 100 people, including representatives from various animal rights groups, gathered at the Sentul police station to file a report and demand justice for Kopi.