Mahidol University said it will look into claims a medical student at the university drugged his sick Pomeranian causing it to be declared dead on arrival at an animal hospital in Nakhon Ratchasima.
The school's acting rector Banchong Mahaisavariya told the Bangkok Post yesterday he was aware of the allegation and the university is gathering information.
The man was identified by a university staffer who declined to be named as well as on social media posts. The news went viral after a Facebook user called Jakkarin Ringngoen posted footage showing the dog being mistreated.
The employee said a fact-finding team was being set up to look into the case.
The investigation is expected to start after graduation ceremonies next Tuesday, the official said.
Two photos from the Facebook page of Jakkarin Ringngoen show pills taken from the stomach of a Pomeranian dog believed to have been drugged with medication used to treat hypertension.
Veterinarian Anongnat Suttham runs the Centre Pet Hospital in the province's central Muang district, where the dog was taken. She said yesterday she suspected foul play while conducting the autopsy.
She said she decided to post her findings using social media to alert people about the case.
On Tuesday the vet received a call from the owner to fix an appointment to treat his dog.
But when they arrived at the hospital Ms Anongnat found the animal was already dead.
She said she saw the man bicker with another man who drove him to the hospital and demand compensation from the driver's company, a pet transport business.
The driver asked her to conduct an autopsy because he wondered why the dog, which appeared in good health when he picked it up, could have died so suddenly.
An examination of the pet's stomach revealed it had consumed a large amount of medicine, Ms Anongnat said while holding up a plastic bag containing more than 10 pills taken from the animal's stomach.
The pills closely resembled those which fell out of the owner's bag while at the hospital, she said. She later found they were used to treat hypertension.
The owner said he had fed his dog some vitamins before they arrived at the hospital, a claim Ms Anongnat disputes.
She said it was possible the owner may have accidentally given the dog a lethal dosage given the animal's diminutive size.
When quizzed the owner was unable to produce the so-called vitamins and claimed another animal hospital in Bangkok had given them to him, Ms Anongnat said.
He then asked her to write a prescription for medicine for the dog but she refused as the animal was already dead, she said.
The doctor later reported the incident to Pho Klang police station and decided to post the news online.
She claimed the dog owner threatened the hospital with a malpractice suit.
Apinya Wipatayotin
