Kuala Lumpur police chief Rusdi Isa said the seven who had their statements recorded comprised a lecturer, students, and an animal rights activist.

“The activist had handed over the carcass of a cat that was found on Dec 20 to the police as well as a carcass of a cat that was found at the carpark of the sports science faculty yesterday,” he said in a statement.

He said the post-mortem will be conducted tomorrow.

This morning, police recorded the statement of activist Shima Aris, in which she defended her claim that the cats were harmed by a person, rather than stray dogs.

Two dead cats were found at UM’s Faculty of Business and Economics on Dec 12 and 16. The discovery led to the UM Students’ Union lodging a police report on Dec 17.

Another report was filed on Dec 20 over the deaths of four cats in different locations on the campus.

Police had previously said the dead cats were likely attacked by a pack of stray dogs.

However, Shima disputed the findings, citing a post-mortem carried out by a private clinic on one of the carcasses which found lesions that were “highly likely” caused by sharp objects. The legs of one of the cats also appeared to have been severed.

On Tuesday, Rusdi said police had launched a fresh investigation into the deaths of the felines.