Catnapper in Kuching Demands RM6,000 Ransom & Threatens To Throw Cat In River

By Ameera Rosli  •  07 Sep 2022 in News

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What are you willing to do to get your cat back?

While kidnappings unfortunately happen quite commonly in Malaysia, the idea of a catnapping is a little unheard of.

However, that changed as recently a cat was nabbed and its captor has set an RM6,000 ransom and threatened to throw the animal into a nearby river if the money fails to reach them.

According to Malaysia Animal Association, the emotional support cat, Snow, was kidnapped in Kuching, Sarawak and the owner found this out several days after reporting the cat missing.

In a Facebook post, MAA shared that the cat’s owner received a Whatsapp message from an unknown individual with pictures and videos of his cat.

“The kidnapper also demanded that the owner deposit an amount of RM6,000 into a bank account before 6pm on Sept 3 and will only inform of the address to claim the cat afterwards.

“The kidnappers threatened the owner to throw the cat into a nearby river if the owner failed to pay the ransom,” said MAA president, Arie Dwi Andika.

The owner offered to pay a sum of RM200 but it was rejected by the catnapper.

Since a police report was lodged, the authorities tried to console the owner and coax them into giving up on the cat. They also promised to get him a new one.

The bank on the other hand mentioned that after the transaction for the ransom is made, they can release the information of the account holder after three months.

In that way, people are banding together and taking this issue seriously which is refreshing because sometimes grievances involving animals are given less priority which ultimately leads to no action.

“Animal Malaysia expressed concern that the crime of kidnapping animals will become widespread if no decisive action is taken by the authorities.

“Starting from the kidnapping and ransom threat against the cat. It is also a serious crime that can spread to children and other adults if not immediately eradicated,” Arie said.

Let’s hope that Snow is safely returned to its rightful owner and this signals a change in the way we take care of animals.