There's A RM10,000 Reward To Whoever Can Find The Person Who Hung Up Dead Otters In Penang
Non-governmental organisation Pasukan Tindakan Haiwan (AAT) is behind the offer.
By Alyssa J. Oon — 06 Mar 2019, 01:23 PM
Photos of two dead otters being strung up by their neck have gone viral on Twitter after it was posted on Friday, 1 March
The photos, which were posted up on Twitter by @999Malaysia, show two dead, fly-infested otters hanging by their necks.
One otter is seen hanging from a pole, while another is hanging from a green wire fence.
The incident occurred at Simpang Ampat, Penang.
Warning: the following photos contain elements that may be distressing to some people.
"For fish breeders, otters may be predators but should they be killed like this?" the user wrote in Bahasa Malaysia.
"It's enough that they killed [the otters] but they also hung it up as if it were a despicable creature."
Netizens have reacted in anger and sadness at the treatment of the two carcasses
"Just imagine these otters went out to scavenge food for their family," wrote one netizen.
"At their nest, their children and partner are waiting. Just imagine if we are waiting for the people we love but they will never return."
Another netizen wrote, "I pray this person's business will never succeed, that their living is suspended just like what they did to these otters."
Meanwhile, another user theorised that the otters were hung that way to scare off any other otters that may come.
In response to the photos, non-governmental organisation Pasukan Tindakan Haiwan (AAT) is offering a RM10,000 reward on leads that will result in the arrest of the perpetrator
AAT president Sharul Nizam Ab Rahim told Harian Metro that they received the photos on Wednesday, 27 February from a member of the public.
"They sent the pictures because of a strong sense of humanity for the two otters without knowing that the individual who killed and hung the animals could be subject to legal action," said Sharul.
He added that otters are protected under Section 54(5) of the Wildlife Conservation Act (Act 716) which states that "any wildlife captured or killed [...] shall be the property of the State and shall without delay be handed to an officer".
The carcasses have been sent to the National Wildlife Forensic Laboratory.