This piece is a follow-up to Rocky, the dog whose death on July 29 sparked nationwide outrage online.
On August 20, the Rocky case moved from investigation to prosecution. Both the man accused of killing him and the woman who spent three weeks as the public face of the outrage are now defendants.
Whatever The Court Decide, Rocky Was Killed
Whoever is ultimately found responsible, and in what proportion, one fact sits outside the legal dispute entirely. A dog died slowly, restrained by a rope around his neck, unable to get away, while people who could have stopped it did not. Every account of that night agrees on that much, the owner’s, MBDK’s, and the second defendant’s. The legal questions in this case are about degree and responsibility. They are not about whether what happened to Rocky was acceptable. It wasn’t, regardless of who held the rope, who gave the order, or who pulled too hard trying to save him.
The Charges
Rocky’s owner, S. Roghini Devi, was charged twice. First under Section 29(1)(e) of the Animal Welfare Act, accused of “unreasonably” pulling Rocky while a looped rope was around his neck, causing him unnecessary pain. Second, under a separate municipal by-law, for keeping an unlicensed dog. A bail of RM6,000 on the cruelty charge, and RM1,000 on the licensing one.
The man accused alongside her Shah Idham Nor Haikal Shaharom was charged under the same Animal Welfare Act section, accused of strangling Rocky with the rope. Bail of RM6,000.
DVS has asked for a joint trial, telling the court both charges rest on the same set of facts. Case management for both is fixed for October 8.
What Actually Triggered MBDK Operation on July 29
Before Rocky’s death, MBDK’s own mayor, Dato’ Abd Hamid Hussain, said the operation was carried out in response to numerous resident complaints about stray dogs threatening public safety, including one incident that left a victim in intensive care. Those complaints centered on Jalan Sungai Sama Gagah 19B on July 13 and 14, roughly two weeks before the operation took place on July 29.
The mayor said the operation ran from 8:30pm to midnight, involving 11 MBDK personnel alongside roughly 50 residents and Neighbourhood Watch (KRT) members, all briefed beforehand on approved capture methods. Twelve stray dogs were captured that night. He maintained that officers and residents followed SOPs set by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT), using approved equipment including capture loops and nets, and said Rocky’s death resulted from “a struggle during the operation,” not the capture method itself.
Roughly 60 people took part in this single stray dog operation, not the two officers most early coverage focused on. A council-run capture involving that many people, all briefed on approved methods beforehand, points to a systemic question rather than an individual one.
Whatever went wrong that night happened inside a structured, multi-party operation, which means responsibility shouldn’t rest on just one or two people.
Who is Shah Idham Nor Haikal Shaharom
Coverage of the man’s identity and role hasn’t settled into one account. Malay Mail names him as Shah Idham Nor Haikal Shaharom and describes him as a Klang city council volunteer. NST, reporting the same court appearance, describes him instead as a delivery rider. Earlier reporting from Yahoo News, sourced to his own lawyer, described him as a community representative invited by the local neighborhood watch (Rukun Tetangga) to assist MBDK’s operation, not as any kind of official council volunteer at all.
These are three different relationships to the council. The distinction matters directly to the accountability question at the center of this case. If he had no formal standing with MBDK, the council’s earlier defense, that its own operation followed proper procedure, looks different than if he was acting as its representative that night. No outlet has resolved which account is accurate, and this piece isn’t treating one version as settled when it isn’t.
What Roghini Devi Is Accused Of
For three weeks, the public account of that night came almost entirely from Roghini Devi herself where she pleaded for Rocky’s life, she was struck while trying to intervene, the council and the men present ignored her. That account shaped how the story spread and how the public reacted to it.
However, a charge is an allegation, not a finding of fact. It means DVS’s own review of the evidence, whatever the post-mortem and witness statements showed, was enough to bring a case against her as well as against the other defendant. It does not establish what she did or didn’t do that night, and it doesn’t undo anything in her account that other evidence still supports. Both defendants are entitled to have the actual facts tested in court.
Where the case stands
Both defendants pleaded not guilty. Both face possible fines of RM20,000 to RM100,000 and up to three years in prison under the cruelty charges, if convicted. Roghini Devi separately faces a fine of up to RM2,000 or a year’s imprisonment on the licensing charge. DVS wants a joint trial, arguing one set of facts covers both roles.
October 8 is the next confirmed date, for case management, not a verdict. Until then, the accurate position is that the case is unresolved, the roles of both defendants are still contested, and neither the July narrative nor the August charges settle what actually happened to cause the death of an animal. What remains true regardless of how any of that resolves is what happened to Rocky himself, and that his death was preventable.
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Read also: ‘I gave up my family to pursue my dreams’ Shares 34 YO M’sian woman – In Real Life
https://inreallife.my/i-gave-up-my-family-to-pursue-my-dreams-shares-34-yo-msian-woman/
‘I gave up my family to pursue my dreams’ Shares 34 YO M’sian woman
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