PETALING JAYA: A local animal rights group has lodged a police report over videos of baby long-tailed macaques being tortured that are being offered for sale on a Telegram group.
The report was filed by Hak Asasi Hidupan Liar Malaysia (Hidup) at the Shah Alam district police headquarters following a tip-off from US-based animal welfare group Lady Freethinker and UK’s Action for Primates,
The videos are being sold in a Telegram group called “Monkey Haters”.
“It is such a brutal form of torture that should be investigated immediately by the police,” Hidup’s Dr Kartini Farah Abdul Rahim was quoted as saying by news portal Free Malaysia Today on Friday (Jan 20).
The footage depicted many despicable forms of torture, which includes, dismembering, mutilation, burning, boiling and skinning of monkeys while still alive.
“The monkeys were shrieking and screaming. During the process, the perpetrators take pictures and videos and post them on Telegram,” lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan was quoted as saying.
Those who want the full video have to pay a sum of money.
“This is what you call ‘torture porn’,” said Rajesh.
Rajesh also said that those behind the footage should be arrested and charged under the Animal Welfare Act 2015 and the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010.
“It should be a lesson to all that one cannot torture animals and sell the videos as ‘torture porn’,” added Rajesh.