Caught in the act: Men smashing rodent with concrete block sparks online anger

[UPDATE June 29]

In response to AsiaOne queries, Acres said that they have been alerted to the incident and they are horrified to see an animal suffer in such a manner

"First, it had to get stuck on a glue trap, a barbaric way of trapping animals. Secondly, it had to endure further pain and suffering by the smashing of the concrete slab," they said.

Acres added that the act is illegal under the Animals and Birds Act and they have since lodged a report with NParks.

Remy the rat from the animated movie Ratatouille may be a favourite character to many, but not everyone likes rodents.

Last week a video of a man smashing a concrete block at what looks like a rodent stuck in a trap was posted to the Instagram page @sgfollowsall and shared on their telegram channel on Friday morning (June 24).

The video shows the rodent twitching as the block was thrown at it with the caption "Happy 23rd birthday sir rat executioner"

The caption on the Instagram post said that the two men were trying to kill a trapped "rat with a slab of rock".

"People might hate rats, they are nuisances, but I do not think that it is right to act like that - a rat is still a living thing and it is bad enough that they will have to die of hunger after being trapped in the rat's trap; they still have to withstand abuse?" Said the caption.

The caption also claimed that the two men were from OCS (Officer Cadet School) and that it is "so embarrassing that [it] is this kind of people who gets into command school and become officers". 

One of the men in the video could be seen wearing what looks like a Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) singlet and in a picture on that post, two men could be seen wearing what looks like the SAF No. 1 uniform. 

However, it is unclear if these men were indeed SAF personnel.

At the time of writing, the video has garnered some 22,000 views and 149 comments on Instagram, and both men have deactivated their Instagram accounts.

In the comments, many upset netizens sympathised with the animal and some wanted action to be taken against the two men.

One even tagged some politicians urging them to take action.

However, there are also those who thought that the men were doing the rodent a service by killing it instantly to end its suffering.

Under the Animals and Bird Act, individuals found guilty of animal cruelty may be liable to a fine of up to $15,000 and/or imprisoned for up to 18 months.

According to NEA's website, there are three common types of rat species in Singapore, namely, the sewer rat, the roof rat and the house mouse.

AsiaOne has reached out to AVS for comment. 

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Shanmugap@asiaone.com