An Indonesian YouTuber who has uploaded videos of himself abusing his pet monkeys has outraged netizens in the country, who are also calling people to mass report his account.
The YouTube channel in question was first disclosed in a tweet by Arian Arifin, vocalist of heavy rock/metal band Seringai, yesterday.
akun YouTube ini isi kontennya prank & menyiksa hewan. mari report.
‘report’ -> ‘violent or repulsive content’ -> ‘animal abuse’ pic.twitter.com/Jcqnp9csst
— 🐺 (@aparatmati) January 14, 2021
“This YouTube account pranks and tortures animals. Let’s report,” Arian’s tweet reads along with an instruction on how to make the report.
The YouTuber, whose real name and location are unknown, started uploading monkey videos since June of last year, whereas he previously posted standard YouTube fares such as song covers, gaming, and comedy sketch videos.
One look at his videos would suggest that he’s looking for clout by distressing his pet monkeys — ranging from giving them energy drinks and force feeding them chili sauce to deliberately popping up a balloon or blowing a paper trumpet near the primates.
Additionally, there are also a number of disturbing videos under the guise of “training” the monkeys, such as tying their hands behind their body to train them to eat only with their mouths.
Even more disturbing still, the YouTuber also uploaded a series of videos showing the dying process of a Mitred Leaf Monkey (Presbytis melalophos) that he bought from a seller. The primate, which is locally known as surili or simpai, is an endangered species endemic to Sumatra.
At the time of writing, the channel has not yet been taken down though the comments sections of his monkey videos appear to have been turned off.
Animal abuse is generally not considered to be a serious offense in Indonesia. Under the Criminal Code, animal abuse that leads to the death of the animal is a crime only punishable by up to nine months’ imprisonment, as well as a minuscule IDR300 (US$0.02) fine. Animal rights activists have long called for a revision to the law, which was drawn up during the Dutch colonial era, to introduce harsher punishments to prevent animal cruelty.
