Animal welfare organization Animal Defenders Indonesia says it plans to file a police report against a man who killed a cat, as seen in a viral video, to the Bekasi Police in West Java.
The organization’s founder, Doni Herdaru Tona, told state news agency Antara yesterday that the abuse took place in Rawalumbu sub-district. According to reports, the incident occurred on Feb. 5, the video of which went viral after it was uploaded to Instagram by a young woman outraged by the cruelty.
The man — who has been identified by his initials RH and reportedly works as an angkot minivan driver — was seen in the video hitting a sleeping cat outside somebody’s house with a broomstick. That one hit proved to be fatal for the cat.
Doni said he suspects the man is a serial animal abuser considering that he was able to inflict fatal damage on the cat with just a single swing of the broomstick with such nonchalance.
“After one hit, he just walked away casually… He is a pro,” Doni told Detik today.
Doni said he has met with RH and the cat’s owner, but they were said to be reluctant to testify against the alleged cat killer because they were scared of him and described him as someone who is hot-tempered. RH has begged Doni not to report him to the police, but Doni said that he would as RH has shown no remorse after killing the cat.
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.
