Japanese man fined over $4,000 for online video clip

A Japanese man has been fined $4,212 for posting online a video clip of him abusing his pet ferret.

The unidentified Sagamihara man was prosecuted in Sagamihara Summary Court for posting the video of himself choking, hitting and generally abusing the ferret on an Internet message board.

More than a thousand people reported the man to police after he posted the video on the message board, prompting the Kanagawa prefectural police to arrest him.

He was indicted under the Protection and Control of Animals Law after a veterinarian was brought in to confirm that the cries coming from the ferret were cries of pain.

The defendant pleaded guilty and also revealed to investigators that he had abused more than 20 other pets to let off steam.

By Sirius on 30-04-2007