The Star Online reported the mall operator saying they are currently investigating the incident, which they viewed seriously.

“We are and always have been strictly against animal cruelty and we are disappointed to learn about the incident.

“Our team is currently investigating to find out what had really happened,” read the statement on the mall’s official Facebook page.

The operator assured that the guard responsible for the alleged cruelty had been suspended pending proof into the matter and necessary action would be taken against him if he was found responsible for the act. This includes the termination of the contract with the security company which provided the guard.

The incident occurred in the parking lot of the shopping mall about midnight Saturday, as related by one Lye Jin Kit, 25, who lives near the mall.

“My family and I heard a dog howling three times from the car park of the mall, with the third and final howl being the most pitiful,” Lye was quoted by the portal.

When he and his family members rushed there, they saw a foreign security guard standing over the dog with a wooden bat in hand. The dog was still alive, but profusely bleeding from the head.

Lye believed the dog could have taken shelter at the entrance of the mall as it was raining heavily at the time.

As the witnesses were scolding the guard, his supervisor came to the scene, seized the bat, and said he did not instruct the guard to beat the dog.