A Singaporean accused of hitting his dog with a helmet and setting its fur on fire in a video has surrendered to Thai authorities following complaints of animal cruelty.
Samuel Woo Zhi Heng yesterday posted a photo of him at a Thai police station and a video of him playing with said dog, who was thankfully still alive. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or SPCA, in Singapore confirmed today that he had turned himself in and was assisting Thai police with their investigation.
“I will learn from my mistake and never do it again,” Woo wrote in his post.
The SPCA said Woo had reached out to them and offered to “fully cooperate” with authorities and “take responsibility for his actions,” the group said in a statement.
A separate video of him apologizing alongside his purported ex-girlfriend was also posted to his Facebook account yesterday. He admitted that he was “not suitable” for taking care of dogs and vowed not to buy or hurt anymore animals.
“I will surrender myself and face all the punishment from the police. Hope u guys can forgive me,” he wrote with his apology video.
Video of the abuse (warning: disturbing), posted online by Woo himself, appears to show him striking the dog with a helmet as it whimpers and cowers. He next walks out to what looks like a living room to retrieve a lighter, which he uses to set fire to the fluffy white dog’s fur repeatedly.
“Don’t make I angry when I no money, my dog also I no give chance (sic),” he wrote in the post.
The SPCA had filed a police report over the video and appealed for more information from the public regarding the Singapore-Thailand man via their Facebook page, a post on Monday showed. Police subsequently visited a home in Tampines as part of the investigation only to find Woo and the dog did not live there.
“Preliminary investigations suggest the dog is not residing in Singapore,” SPCA said in a Monday update. “We are following up on leads received and we will provide all evidence gathered to the relevant authorities in the country where the cruelty occurred.”
The video sparked anger among netizens in both Singapore and Thailand, where many offered to help find where Woo was staying.
“The world gets evil, not because of people who do evil only, it includes those who looked on and do nothing … Am proud that actions were taken by people and SPCA!” a Terrence Yu wrote online.
“He is only sorry cause his sorry ass got caught. If everyone can say sorry and get free, who will take animal abuse seriously? He should be punished, and if he comes back to Singapore, punished again,” Hazellinario Hazellinario wrote.
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