Three charged after serial cat abuser beaten up in vigilante attack
Three men in Hsinchu County were charged with violating the Social Order Maintenance Act, after a report was received that a man recently charged with animal cruelty offences had been beaten up.
In late October this year, a man named Peng was charged with animal cruelty offences and released on NT$30,000 bail with the provision that he be restricted to his residence, after pictures and videos surfaced showing that Peng had tortured to death at least nine cats, four of which he had adopted from animal shelters in Hsinchu County.
In a case that shocked the nation, pictures circulated on social media showing Peng beating a cat to death by bashing its head with a cooking pot, hanging a cat with string by its paws, piercing a cat’s paw with a screw driver, rubbing salt into a cat’s wounds, drowning a cat, and other brutal acts of cruelty.
Animal lovers immediately engaged in a ‘human flesh search,’ with one cat lover’s group offering a NT$100,000 reward for identifying the perpetrator.
Peng was quickly identified as a convenience store clerk in Hsinchu County, and realizing that he was in danger, Peng turned himself in at a local police station and confessed to his crimes.
Peng has since been restricted to his residence, but was recently spotted walking around the neighborhood. People discussing the case on social media reported seeing Peng buying fried chicken at a roadside stand. Noting that Peng had purchased a big pile of snacks, they speculated that he was going to have fun with friends.
Other Internet users claimed that Peng was using a fake account to troll animal lovers in social media groups.
According to reports that surfaced on the Internet yesterday, December 10, at around 8:00pm, December 1, Peng was dragged into an alley and beaten with sticks.
Police have confirmed the reports.
While Peng did not report the assault, and made a settlement with the men, police insisted on charging the three for offences against the Social Order Maintenance Act, saying that vigilante justice will not resolve social disputes, and is a hindrance to public order.
The person who made the Internet post reporting the incident to the public yesterday was an animal protection volunteer who also called on the public to stop using violence.
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