An animal rights group in Jakarta has accused a motorcycle taxi driver working for the ride-sharing company Go-Jek of brutally burning his neighbor’s pet dog alive.
As reported by the Sarana Metta Indonesia Foundation on their Instagram page (Warning: Disturbing content), the incident began on Friday evening, when the Go-Jek driver urinated next to a kennel containing his neighbor’s cross-bred Dalmatian, named Lucky, in the Menteng neighborhood of Central Jakarta.
“Lucky belonged to an Ibu Melly. On Friday evening Lucky was minding his business in his kennel when all of a sudden a person peed next to its kennel, so Lucky scratched him,” Sarana Metta founder Christian Joshua Pale told Kompas yesterday.
Angered by the scratch, the Go-Jek driver demanded that his neighbor move the dog’s kennel, threatening that he would burn him alive if they didn’t.
Lucky’s owner did not immediately move the kennel as she went to the mosque to pray, only to come home to find that her dog was dying.
“When the owner came home she was shocked to see Lucky dying with burns. It turned out that the threat was real. Lucky was burned alive in his cage after the culprit smashed a bottle of gasoline against his head,” Christian said.
Lucky soon succumbed to his deep burns.
Lucky’s owner, accompanied by Sarana Metta, reported the incident to the police, but the police have yet to release any statement regarding the animal abuse accusation.
Go-Jek says it has also been notified about the alleged animal abuse and has promised to carry out an internal investigation.
“Violent behavior like this is not tolerable and we would not shy away from giving heavy sanctions to the alleged culprit,” Go-Jek VP of Corporate Affairs Michael Say told Kompas yesterday.
Under Indonesia’s 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 miniscule IDR300 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 and prevent animal cruelty.
