TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Four men who allegedly went on a dog-killing spree Saturday night (Sept. 25) are in legal trouble after being nabbed by police, confessing that they had shot the dogs “purely for fun.”
Four men in a white car were seen shooting at stray dogs in Changhua City’s Baoshan Road area late Saturday night, CNA reported. Seeing that several dogs appeared to have been killed and feeling sorry for the animals, witnesses reported the incident to the Changhua County Police Department’s Changhua Precinct and pleaded with Mayor Lin Shih-hsien (林世賢) to step up the investigation and arrest the animal abusers.
According to a witness, he had seen a number of stray dogs that were shot to death during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and late at night a few days before Saturday's incident, he saw four people emerge from a car with four BB guns, followed by a sudden “bang, bang, bang.” The dog shooters even went into the garage of his home, the witness said, adding that he had yelled at them to stop.
The men preying on the dogs then got back into the car and left, according to the witness. Infuriated at what he saw, he reported the incident to the police, the report said.
The Changhua Precinct said on Tuesday (Sept. 28) that upon reviewing surveillance footage at the intersection, police were able to spot the car involved in the crime parked off the side of Lunping South Road. Police told the owner of the car, surnamed Wu (吳), to come out of the house to account for the allegation.
Wu owned up to shooting dogs with a "toy" gun and handed over an airsoft gun and a BB handgun, the report said.
Wu ordered the other three men to go to the police station for questioning, during which two of them handed over two more BB pistols. Wu and his friends told the police that they had used the BB guns "purely for fun."
After the interview, the precinct referred them to legal authorities for allegedly violating the Animal Protection Act and the Social Order Maintenance Act, per CNA.
