A man in Semarang, Indonesia was arrested for allegedly slaughtering and eating cats under the pretext of managing his diabetes.

The case went viral on social media, spurring several people and animal lovers to report him to the police.

Heard hitting sound

The man, named Nuryanto, is a landlord for a boarding house in Semarang, reported CNN Indonesia and Tribun News.

One of the tenants of the boarding house heard a "hitting" sound outside his room.

He went out and saw the landlord bringing a stray cat, which another tenant had befriended, to the back of the bathroom, according to the latter's TikTok video.

Nuryanto then proceeded to cook and eat the cat.

"Rather than me dying, it's better if it's the cat"

When confronted about his actions, the landlord said that he ate the cat to manage his sugar level.

"My sugar level will be high if I don't eat (the cat) meat," Nuryanto said to the tenant who had befriended the cat.

When asked why he doesn't eat chicken instead, the Nuryanto said, "[buy with] whose money? Sorry if you are disturbed. My diabetes is bad".

"How do you know if cats are medicine for diabetes?" his tenant asked.

"When [I] eat meat, chicken, fish, the sugar level is not high," the landlord answered.

"The white and orange cat that I always feed. How could you be so cruel?"

"Rather than me dying, it's better if it's the cat," Nuryanto argued.

Slaughtered and ate 10 cats over one year

Nuryanto was arrested after several reports were lodged against him.

His acts were deemed to be motivated by economic factors, along with his lack of knowledge.

Gunungpati Semarang Police Chief Commissioner Agung Raharjo said that the landlord had supposedly slaughtered and eaten 10 cats over a period of one year.

Reportedly, he did it to cure his diabetes, which he had suffered from for 10 years.

Top image via @three.in.onee/TikTok