The owner of the Pawtopia pet boarding centre in Negombo and a man accused of fatally striking a dog with a shovel have both been arrested, the Animal Welfare Coalition said on Tuesday. The arrests relate to the death of a dog named Tango, allegedly killed in a shovel attack at the boarding facility.
Both suspects are expected to be produced before the Negombo Magistrate’s Court, the coalition said in an update on the case, the Daily Mirror reported.
Attorney-at-Law Sajeewa Gamage led the legal proceedings at Katana Police Station on Tuesday. Animal activists Rashen Kumarasinghe, Amitha Ranathunga and Mihiri Siriwardena represented the coalition. The legal owners of the dogs involved, witnesses, and several kennel owners and breeders — including Sureka Tharangani — were also present, according to the organisation.
The coalition said it would lodge a formal complaint about the facility with the relevant Municipal Council and the Office of the Medical Officer of Health, and that it would continue to follow the court proceedings.
Context
The Animal Welfare Coalition is the same group that criticised the state’s rabies spending in September, arguing money went to treatment rather than prevention. An Animal Welfare Bill carrying fines of up to Rs 250,000 for cruelty was gazetted in July; this desk has not established whether it is yet in force, and the filing does not say which law the suspects are held under.
Not reported
The filing does not name either suspect, give their ages, or say when the attack happened or when the arrests were made. It does not state the charges, the arresting unit, or whether bail was sought. It gives no account from Pawtopia or from either suspect, no explanation of why a dog in paid boarding was struck, and no indication of how many animals were at the facility. The reference to “the dogs involved” in the plural is not explained — the filing names only one animal.
A search of other verified newsrooms found no independent report of the arrests; the story has been picked up by several aggregator sites, which do not count towards this site’s credibility rating and are not cited. This article therefore rests on the Daily Mirror alone, and the account of the arrests is the coalition’s own, not a police statement.
