No joke: Monkey kidnaps stray puppy in Malaysia, carries it around for 3 days

In a live-action remake of King Kong – perhaps a miniature version – rescuers in Malaysia freed a stray puppy from the clutches of a monkey, after it was kidnapped for three days. 

The first sighting of the ‘abduction’ in Selangor was on Sept 15, when social media user Zeirie Zack Mzy posted photographs in a Facebook group, showing a primate carrying the black-and-white pup, while perched dangerously on utility lines.

Three days later, another user shared photographs of the same monkey cuddling its tired but otherwise unharmed victim.

In the comments, concerned netizens wondered which brave soul would step forward to free the puppy from its ordeal. One user said: "Poor puppy, please someone do something." 

On Saturday (Sept 18), a video uploaded on Facebook went viral with almost 70,000 views showing a man throwing firecrackers on the ground, hoping that the loud noises would scare the monkey.  

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That seemed to work when the other three rescuers – in a one-hour rescue mission – rushed towards the thick foliage, and pulled out the puppy from the bushes. 

Carrying it with a striped blanket, the relieved locals reported that the puppy was noticeably exhausted but thankfully, alive. 

Speaking to Oriental Daily News, one of the rescuers, named Francis Poh, shared that when the images of the monkey ‘abducting’ the puppy were circulating online, he thought it was fake. 

The 39-year-old, who reportedly has years of experience in rescuing pets and wild animals, added that he stepped in to help after locals tried tempting the monkey with fruits to give up its ‘hostage’. 

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In a follow-up post by Facebook user Cherry Lew Yee Lee, she shared that the puppy – now adopted and named Saru (monkey in Japanese) – was taken to the vet and is recovering from its minor injuries.

“I hope everyone doesn't blame the monkey because as we could see the monkey is trying her best to take care of the puppy," she added in the post. "She is probably depressed and lonely since she’s the only monkey in that area.”

In May 2020, a viral video of monkeys 'kidnapping' a toddler in Indonesia surfaced online. Meanwhile, in Sept 2019, a monkey was seen carrying a kitten around in Thailand. 

ALSO READ: Sticky fingers: Cheeky macaques caught monkeying around in NTU student dorms

chingshijie@asiaone.com