KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 — Social media users are expressing outrage after reports surfaced of cats allegedly being killed and mutilated on the Universiti Malaya (UM) campus.

Instagram user @shimaaris claimed in multiple posts that at least three cats, including a pet named Lily, had been killed, according to a report published in English daily The Star today.

"There could be more of them (but) we can’t see their bodies,” she wrote, calling on the university to conduct a thorough investigation.

"Another dead cat this morning at UM... this is clearly not caused by dogs! What (is being) covered up?” she added in a post on Friday (December 20).

Earlier reports indicated that at least two cats were found dead on December 12 and December 16, with some media outlets attributing the incidents to dogs.

Images circulating online showed a cat’s carcass with a large gash on its body and all four paws missing.

However, @shimaaris, who campaigns against animal cruelty, disputed these claims.

"Easy for you to blame voiceless animals when they cannot... defend themselves. Dogs do not chew off only (the) limbs. They go straight to the body.

"Show us the evidence before you go around (killing) all the defenceless stray dogs in the area,” she said.

Veterinarian Salehatul Khuzaimah M. Ali, known as @dr.ima_vet on Instagram, also posted about finding another cat killed in a similar manner.

The incidents have sparked calls for action from social media users.

One user, kathirgamatamb, described the killings as "the work of a psychopath,” while others called it "a demonic act” and rejected claims that stray dogs were responsible.