Motorcyclist surrenders to police after viral video showed him dragging cat along road in Malaysia

He caught a cat using a net and tried to dump the animal, but the man didn't realise that the act was caught on camera.

In dashcam footage from another vehicle, the 45-year-old man was seen dragging the cat on the road as he rode his motorcycle in Perak, Malaysia.

On June 4, the Malaysia Animal Association posted a video on Facebook showing the animal dangling from the net the man held with his left hand. 

The clip soon went viral, garnering over 15,000 views and hundreds of angry comments, with some saying that the driver who recorded the incident should have intervened.

The next night, a member of the public lodged a police report and the man soon turned himself in at the Langkap police station. He was arrested, the New Straits Times reported.

According to Bernama, his family members had informed him of the video that was being shared on social media.

But he appeared to have changed his mind, and proceeded to make a police report denying that he was the motorcyclist in the viral video. 

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The man eventually admitted that it was him, saying that "he caught the cat to be dumped in the shop area near his house," Hilir Perak district police Chief Assistant Commissioner, Ahmad Adnan Basri said.

"He used a hand net to catch the cat and while on his way to a nearby restaurant, the cat's forelegs had come out of the net causing the cat to be dragged on the road". 

While the suspect was released on bail that night, the authorities are investigating a case of mischief by killing or maiming an animal under the penal code as well as the Animal Welfare Act 2015.

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alexanderkt@asiaone.com