The owner of a store in China, who caught a rat stealing his rice, tied it up and humiliated it in public, according to photos that were uploaded to the Internet.
The incident unfolded in Heyuan, after the owner caught the rat eating his stolen rice, which he intended to sell in his small shop.
The owner of the store who was identified as Lai Tiancai, tied up the rat’s limbs and hung it on a push cart. Workers at the store attached a note, which read: “I promise I will never do this again.”
The photos of the hanging rat were then uploaded to the Internet, where they went viral.
The photos were forwarded to the police who launched an investigation of animal cruelty, but so far, no charges have been filed.
People who saw the photos on the Internet, had mixed reactions to the hanging incident.
Some people said that the rat deserved to be tortured while others called on police to prosecute the store owner for animal cruelty.