Unsettling footage of a litter of puppies getting dunked into a Bali gutter has quickly gone viral, prompting a police investigation looking into the matter.
A short video shows a pair of men roughly handling a group of screeching puppies, with their legs and snouts bound. Using a metal rod, the men violently submerge the puppies in the gutter, before lifting them up by the legs and throwing them on the side of the road.
The puppies appear to still be alive after they are pulled out just seconds from the water, so it’s not clear if the motive of the perpetrators in the video is to weaken the puppies or to “bathe” them, say police.
Originally posted to Facebook on May 17 by Balinese woman Dian Wedha, the video was apparently recorded in the island’s Bangli regency.
Bangli Police Chief Supt. Agus Tri Waluyuo confirmed with local reporters that his department is conducting an investigation.
“We are in the process, later, if we there has been criminal activity related to the case, we will move forward with the appropriate process,” Waluyo said, as quoted by Detik.
Netizens are quicker to make judgements on the contents of the video, speculating that the perpetrators are dog meat traders.
Bali essentially banned the island’s dog meat trade with a governor’s decree in July 2017, but there have still been reports of dog meat sales persisting.
If vendors are found selling dog meat, or RW as it is locally known, civil service police have previously said that they will be subject to lesser criminal charges.
But even if the men in the video weren’t trying to drown the puppies for the purpose of getting their meat, there are laws against causing animal suffering in Indonesia, which they sure seem to be violating.
Meanwhile, the Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA), has responded to the video as well, explaining that those men certainly weren’t giving the puppies a bath, outlining the laws being broken in the video, and thanking Bangli police for their swift action.
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