Pongsapat said the department or Bangkok Metropolitan Administration would raise the issue with a related standing committee at the National Legislative Assembly (NLA).

“Police have been able to handle cases of dogs biting people after the Prevention of Animal Cruelty and Provision of Animal Welfare Act came into effect. However, this was only the end result. The root problem is animal abandonment, so what can we do to stop people abandoning pets, an action that is now punishable with a fine of up to Bt40,000?” he said.

The meeting also stemmed from an earlier incident in which a police inspector shot dead one stray dog and wounded another, allegedly to protect his wife who was about to be mauled by the dogs.

Pongthep Ekudomchai, head of the Livestock Department veterinary services section, said people could defend themselves from dogs’ attacks as the new law also recognised this right. However, the use of a gun needed further scrutiny.

Pol Colonel Pajapon Rodphothong, who oversees the central police apartments, said there were seven such complexes and the Lat Yao facility had 40-50 stray dogs roaming around it. Although the dogs had been vaccinated, police had asked Chatuchak District Office to capture them and take them away, but the problem was they were not easy to catch.