Manama: A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a group of young men to 70 days in jail for torturing a caged fox and inflicting burns that led to its death.
The court in Sarat Ubaida in the southwestern part of the country also decreed a sentence of 118 lashes for the defendants found guilty of the acts of cruelty that they videotaped and posted on social networks, local daily Okaz reported on Sunday.
The case triggered widespread condemnation and calls for stringent action against those who tortured the animal when the video clip went viral on social networks in September.
The video showed the group of men pouring an inflammable substance on the fox inside a cage and setting it on fire. One young man was heard saying that they wanted to punish the fox for eating 30 chickens.
The Saudi Wildlife Commission was quick to act and issued an appeal to the public to help identify the group of young men who had set the fox alight and “shamelessly violated all Islamic values and rules”.
“Such an act is totally against human nature and values, perpetrated by terrorists and criminals,” Prince Bandar Bin Saud Bin Mohammad, the president of the Saudi Wildlife Commission, said. “Their behaviour is exactly like what the members of the Daesh terrorist group are doing, killing without mercy. Torturing an animal to death is not and cannot be condoned by anyone who claims he is a Muslim. And filming this abominable act to show off makes our heart bleed and deeply disturbs everyone who respects life,” Prince Bandar said.
He said the torturers were not men enough. “Manhood has specific standards and criteria. These are terrorists living in the dark,” he said. “We must all stand against them because they have violated the basic values of humanity. Foxes, like all people and animals, have rights. Our religion has laid out very clear instructions on how to behave and deal with animals,” he said.
