A source in the management said UM was currently capturing and relocating stray dogs on campus with the help of UM Guardians, a unit under the UM deputy vice-chancellor’s (development) office.
“The police have given us the report and held a press conference saying that it was the doing of wild animals.
“They specifically mentioned wild dogs. The university authorities knew about this from day one.
“From the CCTV footage that we have, we know a group of dogs is targeting cats. The only problem is, we don’t have (explicit) footage of the dogs mutilating the cats,” the source told FMT before a town hall on the handling of stray animals at UM today.
He said the university had captured and relocated about 14 strays, including some that were part of an “aggressive” pack of four to five dogs they believe were responsible for killing the cats.
“We did a study on this group and found that the same group has been terrorising (people and animals) in neighbouring areas as well,” he said.
The source said the university had increased its security measures with patrols around the campus at all hours.
“The UM management has been consistent in ensuring that no harm will come to any of the animals,” he said.
Several cats had been found dead on the UM campus, leading to a police investigation which began on Dec 24 last year.
Two dead cats were found at the university’s faculty of business and economics on Dec 12 and 16, leading to a report lodged by the student union on Dec 17.
Another report, filed on Dec 20, involved the deaths of four cats at different locations on the campus.
On Jan 2, another cat was found “extensively mutilated” outside the university’s faculty of medicine. Two days later, Brickfields police said a cat was killed by a pack of stray dogs at a UM car park.
Police have maintained that all the cats killed on the campus were attacked by stray dogs.
However, an independent animal rescuer challenged the claim, saying a post-mortem carried out by a private clinic on one of the carcasses found lesions that were highly likely to be caused by sharp objects.
Student union accepts UM’s explanation
Following the town hall, the UM students’ union said it accepted the university’s explanation, but would continue to monitor its operations regarding the relocation of stray dogs.
“If it was really stray dogs and the UM management team continues to capture and relocate them, there should be no further killing of cats,” it said.
The union said they were also told that the university is enhancing its CCTV system around the campus, which would help in providing proof should such killings occur again.