Lieh-Mak said solicitor Eugene Oh felt wronged by the fact that the mongrels that killed his dog were not punished and so he "channelled most of his energy into litigation which, as a lawyer, is understandable.''

His wife Grace Chin was then made more anxious because of the litigation, her husband's deteriorating health and the negative publicity. Lieh-Mak believes Oh to be suffering from an ``adjustment disorder'' involving anxiety and depression, but not anything as serious as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is more common with soldiers who suffer near-death experiences. She does not consider Chin to suffer from any psychiatric illness.

Chin and her husband Eugene Oh are claiming psychological damages after their dog was mauled to death by mongrels belonging to their neighbors, Yan Su-zher and Kate Richdale.

Chin was walking Sha Sha in the summer of 2000 when the little dog supposedly broke loose, was dragged through the gates by the mongrels and mauled to death, Chin said.

Oh did not witness the incident but was informed by Chin over the phone and reconstructed the events in his mind. Oh and Chin claim to have been traumatised by the violent death of their dog and developed PTSD.

Lieh-Mak told Deputy High Court Judge Ian Carlson that the criteria for PTSD is very strict. One needs to have extreme or intense fear for one's life and also be a witness to a catastrophic event, she said.

``I can't find any report in scientific study which says witnessing violence between animals can be a cause of PTSD,'' said Lieh-Mak. Chin may have been frightened at the time, but the event was not realistically threatening to her own life, she said.

Oh was not present and did not witness the death of his dog. ``I think (Oh) will get on with his life,'' she said.

``Without the cause you cannot have the symptoms,'' just as ``you cannot diagnose Sars without the existence of a Sars virus,'' she said.

Lieh-Mak did not believe either Chin or Mak lived in such ``intense fear'' after the event otherwise they would have quickly moved away from the Sai Kung neighborhood.

She also pointed out that Chin only resigned from her position in companies owned by her husband and continued to give psychology tutorials three times a week at the University of Hong Kong.

``Tutorials are interactive, you have to be on your toes,'' she said. She said Chin would only have ``struggled through her work'' because of the stress of the present litigation, not because PTSD impaired her work. In any case, her performance was not affected, added Lieh-Mak, since her yearly contract was renewed.

Representing Chin and Oh, senior counsel Ruy Barretto suggested that it was nevertheless ``a highly unusual event for a lady of her situation'' and that the continued presence of the ferocious dogs was traumatic for her. He suggested the violent death of a beloved dog is sufficiently traumatic to cause PTSD.

Barretto also thought that because Lieh-Mak did not have photographs of the carcass she did not have an accurate enough picture of the events to make a qualified judgment.

``I suggest to you you have taken a wrong diagnostic approach,'' said Barretto and that other clinicians could come to the conclusion that it was possible for them both to suffer from PTSD.

Lieh-Mak is emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Hong Kong. She was elected as chairwoman of the English Schools Foundation last year.

The defendants Yan and Richdale claim they have the right to protect their own premises, especially after they had found illegal immigrants trespassing in the past. Both parties have since moved from Clear Water Bay Road.

The case continues today.

albert.wong@singtaonewscorp.com