A kidnapped cat, ransom demands via WhatsApp and an unexpected reaction from the police – animal rights activists from Malaysia drew attention to a bizarre criminal case via Facebook.
The blackmailer threatened to drown the cat via WhatsApp. (Source: Facebook/Persatuan Haiwan Malaysia – Malaysia Animal Association)
This story, shared by the animal welfare organization Persatuan Haiwan Malaysia – Malaysia Animal Association on their Facebook page, is hard for animal lovers to bear. A man in Malaysia has been missing his cat since early September. He assumed she was lost and put up posters with photos of the animal around, hoping someone had seen his cat. A few days later he received a disturbing WhatsApp message.
This contained photos and videos of his cat, but the suspected finder or suspects demanded a ransom of the equivalent of 1,320 euros for the animal’s release. Otherwise they would throw the cat into a river with crocodiles, as well as if the victim called the police.
Kidnappers demand a ransom of 1,320 euros
Since the cat’s owner doesn’t have that much money and the kidnappers didn’t want to be talked down, he went to the police anyway. But then came the next shock. The officer on duty promised the man that he would get a new cat, the effort to free the kidnapped cat was too high. Although the perpetrators could probably be identified via the shared account data to which the ransom was to be transferred, according to the officials this would only be legally possible after three months.
The animal rights activists now want to publicly put pressure on the authorities via Facebook to take action in the case. It is not yet known whether the cat is back with its rightful owner.
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