PETALING JAYA (BERNAMA) - A Singaporean businessman who repeatedly bashed a dog with a crash helmet was on Monday (Jan 8) fined RM8,000 (S$2,700), or in default, eight months' jail, in Malaysia.

Yee Kok Chew, 57, was sentenced by the magistrate's court in Petaling Jaya after he changed his plea to guilty when the charge was read to him in English.

The case was originally scheduled for trial on Monday.

Yee was charged with acting cruelly by repeatedly hitting a white and brown male guard dog named Furby with a crash helmet, thus hurting and causing suffering to the dog, at a security guardhouse in a residential area in Puchong on April 2, 2017.

The charge carried a fine of up to RM50,000 or a jail term not exceeding one year, or both.

A closed-circuit television recording of him attacking the dog went viral on social media.

Yee paid the fine.

Earlier, Yee's lawyer Jerald Gomez asked for a light sentence on his client as the dog was not seriously injured and was currently healthy and active.

"After the video clip of the incident went viral, the accused lost his franchise business licence and he also apologised for his action against the dog, said Mr Gomez.

However, deputy public prosecutor from the Veterinary Services Department, Nabilah Mohammad Zanudin, asked for an appropriate sentence as a deterrent to the accused and the public, saying the offence was serious.

She also informed the court that the dog had been brought to court, after it was heard barking during the proceedings.

Magistrate Mohamad Ikhwan Mohd Nasir requested that the dog be brought into the courtroom so he could see its condition.