SINGAPORE: Authorities in Malaysia have arrested a 33-year-old foreign suspect in connection to a viral video of a cat being skinned.
The man was arrested on Tuesday (Jun 25) after a report was lodged on the video, the North Klang district police in Malaysia’s Selangor state said in a statement posted on Facebook page on Wednesday.
The 47-second video, which the police received via WhatsApp, purportedly shows a man cutting a white cat.
He is seen wielding a chopper as the cat lay on the ground, with part of its fur matted with blood.
The man, who appears to speak in halting Malay, is then seen skinning the animal. At one point, he could be heard telling the person filming the act to pay attention.
As part of its investigations, the police also seized a mobile phone belonging to the suspect.
The man is being investigated under Section 428 of the Penal Code that deals with animal cruelty. If found guilty, he may be jailed for up to three years and fined.
Earlier, the Malaysia Animal Association had put up a post on its Facebook page offering a RM3,000 (US$636) reward for members of the public who provide information that may lead to the man’s arrest.
The association claimed that the man is a Myanmar national who is believed to be an employee of a snack shop in Selangor.
