Cape Town - The man who allegedly recorded himself mistreating fish has been identified by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
The footage of the Johannesburg man pouring beer into a fish’s mouth has since been removed.
In the 20-second clip, the man whose name is known to Independent Media laughs, tells the person taking the video: “It’s drinking Sol (the beer).” The fish, which is still alive, opens its mouth as he continues laughing.
A female voice can be heard saying: “You’re not serious,” before she bursts out laughing.
The man then says: “Biri Marung!”
In another disturbing video, the man holds two fish and makes them kiss while he smiles and laughs.
The NSPCA spokesperson, Jacques Peacock, said they identified the man.
“The NSPCA is finalising, gathering and reviewing evidence, for purposes of a prosecution in terms of the Animals Protection Act 71 of 1962.”
According to him, they had previously encountered a similar situation.
In October 2023, a Black Label beer was shoved down a big python by a group of men during a party. On social media, the video was posted numerous times.
While partying in the bush, the males were observed clinging to the six-foot-long reptile.
A full 750ml bottle of beer was poured into the snake’s mouth after the group pryed open its jaws.
Peacock explained: “The NSPCA was previously made aware of an incident in 2023 where a Southern African python was force-fed beer. Similarly, the NSPCA recently had a successful conviction of an individual for exposing a snake to a psychoactive substance.”
Cape of Good Hope SPCA spokesperson, Belinda Abrahams, urged the public not to share the video.
“Encouraging to see how many people are upset though. The problem is the social media algorithms do not know if the response you give is positive or negative.
“It just sees responses and pushes the video to more people. So when people react in any way at all, they actually help him gain traction.
“It’ll be good to talk about how to respond to these posts so people don’t benefit on social media from cruelty.”