Taiwan man seen on video microwaving cat, he claims he got hacked & only abandoned his cats

A video of a man appearing to microwave his cat triggered public outcry in Taiwan after videos of the alleged abuse were uploaded on his social media account.

But the man, Zhuo, claimed his account was hacked.

He later admitted to having adopted several cats and abandoning them, but denied any abuse.

Complaints

Kaohsiung city councillor Pai Chiao-yin said that in late October, she received a complaint from a member of the public.

It said that a man placed a cat in a microwave oven to torture it.

According to ETtoday, the post on Zhuo's account showed a man placing a cat into a microwave.

The post claimed that the cat came out "completely wet, with its fur standing on end and smoking".

It further claimed that the full video could be unlocked for a fee.

Initial investigation

Following the complaint, the Kaohsiung City Animal Protection Office sent personnel to assist the police in investigating Zhuo's residence.

While they found that Zhuo had indeed adopted five cats, neither the cats nor the microwave could be found on the premises.

Only an empty cage was left.

When questioned, Zhuo said that he took four cats to the park and released them after adopting them, while one cat ran away on its own.

He claimed he did not abuse any cats and blamed the video on his Facebook account being hacked.

The case has since been transferred from the Animal Protection Office to the District Prosecutor's Office for investigation.

Abandoned cats

Further police investigations revealed a significant discrepancy between the cat abuse photos circulating online and the interior of Zhuo's residence.

It is suspected that someone who was dissatisfied with Zhuo's abandonment of the cats, used AI to generate the images, and posted them on Zhuo's account.

Zhuo has since threatened to file a defamation lawsuit.

Taiwan police are now investigating the possibility of someone having used AI to generate the videos and implicate Zhuo by posting them online.

Zhuo will nevertheless be charged for five counts of cat abandonment.

For abandoning the cats, Zhuo could be fined at least NT$150,000 (S$6,261) or more.

Top photos via ETtoday