Social media rage as photos of two puppies being used as crocodile bait

In the Southeast Asia state of Banda Seri Begawan, social media erupted into a viral rage after photos of a pair of puppies tied with ropes and placed in cages were being used as crocodile bait. The photos went viral after they appeared on Wednesday and were posted on the group Care and Action for Strays.

“Two puppies, one brown and one black were found at the scene in two separate traps. The black one has already died when we arrived. It was hooked to a trap for the crocodile to walk into, while the brown one was tied in the other trap with a dead chicken. Both puppies must have gone through unimaginable ordeal. The brown puppy has been rescued and taken in by us for further medical examination.”

The puppies – one tied inside of a wooden cage with raw bait and the other pup tied to a stake on the edge of an embankment, had been set to lure a crocodile responsible for having killed and eaten a nine-year-old child on December 19 when the child disappeared. The family had hoped to get the crocodile to shore to retrieve their child’s body. The Wildlife Division has since denied using the puppies as bait. Authorities are still investigating the situation, but have yet to find the child. Under Brunel law, it is illegal for the public to trap wild animals.

After receiving a report about the puppies, Ada Ang, co-founder of Care and Action for Strays went to the location with another volunteer to rescue the puppies; one had already died before the rescuers arrived. Likely the little ones had been left for days.

“A pup wouldn’t die after just 24 hours exposed to the elements. The one puppy we did rescue was severely dehydrated and frightened,” stated Ada.

Efforts to rescue the mother dog were not successful because she was too afraid to get near any human.

“While we understand this is not acceptable, but before we have any concrete evidence of who is behind this, please show your respect to the grieving family. We have received plenty of messages hoping for instant karma on the grieving family. We have spoken to many individuals and we are unable to conclude who is behind this. Whether this is a work of the family, authorities or others, please take a step back and keep your raging opinions to yourself. A son, a brother, a nephew, a friend also lost his life in this incident.

This is not the right time to name and shame. We hope the public would be considerate and mature enough to understand this situation, although we too can never agree to the method used,” wrote Ada on the organization’s social media page.

The puppy is currently in foster care and is expected to survive both his physical and emotional trauma.

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