Video of Drive-By Cat Killings Prompts Arrest in Saudi Arabia
On Thursday, the government of the Mecca region, which includes Jidda, said
that "the man who shot the cats has been arrested in Jidda, and the investigation is ongoing and the laws will be implemented."
#عاجلبعد توجيه #أمير_مكةتم القبض على مطلق النار على القطط بـ #جدة وجاري التحقيق معه وستطبق الأنظمة بحقه#نريد_محاسبة_سفاح_القطط#إمارة_مكة pic.twitter.com/7PpS5Y0UBB The man was arrested on Thursday and taken in for questioning,
but by nightfall he had been released on bail, according to local news reports.
"For those who tell me it’s haram" — forbidden — "to kill cats: I have to wash four cars every week," he says in the video, which users captured
and posted to YouTube because Snapchat videos normally disappear after 24 hours.
A 26-year-old Saudi man was arrested on Thursday after officials said he had posted a Snapchat video
in which he killed at least three cats with what appeared to be a rifle, some from a moving car.
In the video, which was taken in a residential neighborhood in the port city of Jidda and which prompted a social media uproar, the man could be heard saying
that he was shooting the cats because they had repeatedly left a mess on his four cars.
The man recorded himself with a digitally altered image — a cat’s ears
and nose were superimposed on his face, using one of Snapchat’s filters — and modified his voice, which was made to sound like that of a high-pitched robot.
Under animal welfare guidelines that the Saudi government promulgated in 2013, animal abuse is punishable by a fine of up
to 50,000 riyals (about $13,000) for a first offense, going up to 400,000 riyals (about $106,000) for a repeat offense.