SONGKHLA: Initial tests on the carcasses of 33 cats dumped at a temple where they were then killed by dogs have shed no light on why the animals were so helpless.
An activist at Ban Mah Yim, a dog rights group, said tissue samples from the dead cats were sent to the 12th medical sciences centre and the Songkhla livestock office for testing, to see if they had been drugged. Nothing unusual had been found to date.
The cat carcasses were being kept in cold storage.
Pol Lt Col Kanthaphon Chaetipattananakul, investigation chief at Kho Hong police station, said they were trying to trace a pickup truck seen dropping off 36 cats at the temple in Hat Yai district, Wat Thung Ngai.
Finding it would be key to learning who dumped the cats and whether the animals were drugged before being savaged by the dogs.
Investigators were also examining recordings from surveillance cameras at various locations to ascertain more details of the grey Nissan NV, and ownership registries for this kind of vehicle and model were being checked. This should narrow down the list of who might be responsible, Pol Lt Col Kanthaphon said.
The 33 dead cats were found in the grounds of Wat Thung Ngai at Thung Ngai village in Hat Yai district on Dec 10.
A village security camera recorded a Nissan pickup truck being driven into the grounds about 2am and leaving 15 minutes later.
A woman, Chai Panchalerm, 49, whose house is opposite the temple, found the dead cats, along with three live ones.
Local residents believed the cats were attacked by stray dogs after they were dumped at the temple by the pickup driver.
On Tuesday, livestock officials and the Thung Ngai village head filed a complaint with local police against the unknown driver of the pickup truck. They believed the animals were sedated before being abandoned there, leaving them unable to defend themselves or flee.
Normally, cats were able to escape attacking dogs, they said.
