The snapshot of the video clip showing the fox being burned alive at Sarat Abeedah, Asir Province.

The cases of torturing wild animals are on the rise, such that there were two cases in less than 10 days, the Dammam-based Alsharq newspaper reported on Sunday.

In the first incident, a young man caught a fox and tortured it to death. The National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD) asked for the culprit to be arrested and penalized.

Then in the second incident, the newspaper said it had received on Saturday a video clip of young men at Sarat Abeedah, Asir Province, burning a fox alive, alleging that it had eaten about 30 of their chickens.

Prince Bandar Bin Mohammed Al-Saud, head of the NCWCD, has promised to take action and punish the torturers. He asked the newspaper to send him the clip so as to convey it to the Minister of Interior.

“I will ask the concerned enforcement authorities to arrest the young men who burned the fox,” he said. “Killing or catching wild animals is not an uncommon practice in the world. However, torturing them is, and those torturing animals will be penalized according to the law,” he added.

Prince Bandar said Islam has asked Muslims to be kind and merciful to all creatures including animals. “According to the Islamic teachings, the Kingdom has drafted laws that incriminate and punish anyone who tortures wild animals,” he said.

The prince asked citizens to be enlightened against torturing wild animals and said those who break the laws concerning the protection of wildlife will be tried before special courts.

Mohammed Al-Suaidi, a professor of Fiqh origin at Umm Al-Qura University said the young men who killed the fox by burning it have committed two sins.

“The first sin is that it is only Allah who tortures by burning. The second is the circulation of their crime through a video clip,” he said.

He said it was natural for the fox to eat chicken, therefore people should not torture it for its habit. “We can catch the fox and kill it but never torture it,” he said.

Al-Suaidi said it is not against Islam to kill wild animals but it is totally against the religion to torture them.

 
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